“Survivors” and “victims”: Long-term HIV positive individuals and the ethos of self-empowerment

Recent research on contemporary processes of self-construction has suggested that the concepts of “self”, “health”, “morality” and “responsibility” have become inextricably interconnected, to the extent that the “pursuit of health has become the pursuit of moral personhood” [R. Crawford (1994) The boundaries of the self and the unhealthy other: reflections on health, culture and AIDS, Social Science & Medicine38(10), 1347–1365]. What happens then when a person becomes “diseased”? Are they doomed to the stagnant mire of “illness” and “immorality”, to the role of undesirable “other”? What if the disease is HIV infection? Is it the case of HIV = AIDS = DEATH = “OTHER” par excellence? This paper addresses these issues by examining the constructions of “self” and “other” used by HIV positive individuals themselves. By reference to a specific group of people living with long-term HIV positive diagnoses, it demonstrates how unhealthy HIV infected “others”, as perceived by “healthy” members of society, create their own conceptions of “self” and “other” which microcosmically mirror typical processes of identity construction. The content, function and potential advantages and disadvantages of these processes are highlighted.