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Examining the formation of scientific knowledge about the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Alex Preda highlights the metaphors, narratives, and classifications which framed scientific hypotheses about the nature of the infectious agent and its transmission. Preda compares these arguments with those used in the scientific analysis of SARS. He demonstrates how scientific knowledge about epidemics is shaped by cultural narratives and categories of social thought through a detailed review of biomedical publications.
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AIDS, Rhetoric, and Medical Knowledge This book examines the formation of scientific knowledge about the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and shows the broader cultural assumptions on which this knowledge is grounded. Alex Preda highlights the metaphors, narratives, and classifications that framed scientific hypotheses about the nature of the infectious agent and its means of transmission and compares these arguments with those used in the scientific literature about SARS. Through detailed rhetorical analysis of biomedical publications, the author shows how scientific knowledge about epidemics is shaped by cultural narratives and categories of social thought. Preda situates his analysis in the broader frame of the world risk society, where scientific knowledge is called upon to support and shape public policies regarding prevention and health maintenance, among others. But can these policies avoid the influence of cultural narratives and social classifications? This book shows how culture affects prevention and health policies as well as the ways in which scientific research is organized and funded. Alex Preda holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Bielefeld and received the 1998 dissertation prize of the Academic Society of Westfalia-Lippe. He has taught at the universities of Bielefeld and Konstanz, Germany. He is coeditor of The Sociology of Financial M