Synopses & Reviews
Workable Sisterhood is an empirical look at sixteen HIV-positive women who have a history of drug use, conflict with the law, or a history of working in the sex trade. What makes their experience with the HIV/AIDS virus and their political participation different from their counterparts of people with HIV? Michele Tracy Berger argues that it is the influence of a phenomenon she labels "intersectional stigma," a complex process by which women of color, already experiencing race, class, and gender oppression, are also labeled, judged, and given inferior treatment because of their status as drug users, sex workers, and HIV-positive women.
The work explores the barriers of stigma in relation to political participation, and demonstrates how stigma can be effectively challenged and redirected.
The majority of the women in Berger's book are women of color, in particular African Americans and Latinas. The study elaborates the process by which these women have become conscious of their social position as HIV-positive and politically active as activists, advocates, or helpers. She builds a picture of community-based political participation that challenges popular, medical, and scholarly representations of "crack addicted prostitutes" and HIV-positive women as social problems or victims, rather than as agents of social change. Berger argues that the women's development of a political identity is directly related to a process called "life reconstruction." This process includes substance- abuse treatment, the recognition of gender as a salient factor in their lives, and the use of nontraditional political resources.
Review
This work would be a stellar accomplishment by any seasoned scholar. That this is Berger's sociological 'debut' . . . is impressive and bodes well for future research into gender, inequality and deviance. -- Tammy L. Anderson, Theoretical Criminology Overall, Berger delivers a promising social science work that creatively challenges political and legal conceptions of stigma. -- Lara Eilhardt, Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice Michele Tracy Berger offers one of the first studies of the development of critical consciousness and political participation of women of color who are HIV positive. . . . Her study is one of the first that I have read that centers on the experiences and political practice of women of color who are HIV-positive and who also face other challenges, such as recovery from drug abuse and sexual trauma. . . . Her accessible writing style combined with the rich analytic framework contribute to the value of Workable Sisterhood for multiple audiences. -- Nancy A. Naples, Perspectives on Politics While this work is situated primarily within the feminist literature, and particularly within the literature pertaining to women of color, it brought new emphasis to the significance of the relationship between social identity and stigma. . . . [T]his research . . . points to a possibility for change that resides within many individuals society has written off as lost. -- sy L. Fife," American Journal of Sociology Berger's Workable Sisterhood . . . demonstrates all the elements necessary to elevate an interview/ethnographic report beyond oral history. -- Arthur W. Frank, Qual Sociol This work . . . brought new emphasis to the significance of the relationship between social identity and stigma. . . . [T]his research, which Berger found challenging throughout, points to a possibility for change that resides within many individuals society has written off as lost. -- Betsy L. Fife, American Journal of Sociology
Review
"This work would be a stellar accomplishment by any seasoned scholar. That this is Berger's sociological 'debut' . . . is impressive and bodes well for future research into gender, inequality and deviance."--Tammy L. Anderson, Theoretical Criminology
Review
"Overall, Berger delivers a promising social science work that creatively challenges political and legal conceptions of stigma."--Lara Eilhardt, Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice
Review
"Michele Tracy Berger offers one of the first studies of the development of critical consciousness and political participation of women of color who are HIV positive. . . . Her study is one of the first that I have read that centers on the experiences and political practice of women of color who are HIV-positive and who also face other challenges, such as recovery from drug abuse and sexual trauma. . . . Her accessible writing style combined with the rich analytic framework contribute to the value of Workable Sisterhood for multiple audiences."--Nancy A. Naples, Perspectives on Politics
Review
"This work . . . brought new emphasis to the significance of the relationship between social identity and stigma. . . . [T]his research, which Berger found challenging throughout, points to a possibility for change that resides within many individuals society has written off as lost."--Betsy L. Fife, American Journal of Sociology
Review
"Berger's Workable Sisterhood . . . demonstrates all the elements necessary to elevate an interview/ethnographic report beyond oral history."--Arthur W. Frank, Qual Sociol
Review
Overall, Berger delivers a promising social science work that creatively challenges political and legal conceptions of stigma. Theoretical Criminology
Review
"While this work is situated primarily within the feminist literature, and particularly within the literature pertaining to women of color, it brought new emphasis to the significance of the relationship between social identity and stigma. . . . [T]his research . . . points to a possibility for change that resides within many individuals society has written off as lost."--Betsy L. Fife, American Journal of Sociology
Review
Berger's Workable Sisterhood . . . demonstrates all the elements necessary to elevate an interview/ethnographic report beyond oral history. sy L. Fife, - " - American Journal of Sociology
Review
Winner of the 2005 Best Book Award in Intersectionalities: Race, Gender, Ethnicity and Politics Category; Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association
Synopsis
"An important contribution to the sociology of AIDS and to feminist writing concerning women who are multiply stigmatized by racism, poverty, sexual abuse, drug use, and gender."
--Nancy Stoller, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of Lessons from the Damned: Queers, Whores, and Junkies Respond to AIDS"Groundbreaking! Workable Sisterhood expands the discussion of the new face of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and it introduces unique qualitative empirical data. I am unaware of any other book that enables the reader to hear firsthand women's personal stories of addiction, infection, and personal transformation. Berger's scholarship sets a feminist standard in work on stigmatized women by presenting such women as actors and thinkers, rather than victims and voiceless research data."--Julia Sudbury, Mills College, author of Other Kinds of Dreams: Black Women's Organizations and the Politics of Transformation
Synopsis
Workable Sisterhood is an empirical look at sixteen HIV-positive women who have a history of drug use, conflict with the law, or a history of working in the sex trade. What makes their experience with the HIV/AIDS virus and their political participation different from their counterparts of people with HIV? Michele Tracy Berger argues that it is the influence of a phenomenon she labels "intersectional stigma," a complex process by which women of color, already experiencing race, class, and gender oppression, are also labeled, judged, and given inferior treatment because of their status as drug users, sex workers, and HIV-positive women.
The work explores the barriers of stigma in relation to political participation, and demonstrates how stigma can be effectively challenged and redirected.
The majority of the women in Berger's book are women of color, in particular African Americans and Latinas. The study elaborates the process by which these women have become conscious of their social position as HIV-positive and politically active as activists, advocates, or helpers. She builds a picture of community-based political participation that challenges popular, medical, and scholarly representations of "crack addicted prostitutes" and HIV-positive women as social problems or victims, rather than as agents of social change. Berger argues that the women's development of a political identity is directly related to a process called "life reconstruction." This process includes substance- abuse treatment, the recognition of gender as a salient factor in their lives, and the use of nontraditional political resources.
Synopsis
"An important contribution to the sociology of AIDS and to feminist writing concerning women who are multiply stigmatized by racism, poverty, sexual abuse, drug use, and gender."--Nancy Stoller, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of Lessons from the Damned: Queers, Whores, and Junkies Respond to AIDS
"Groundbreaking! Workable Sisterhood expands the discussion of the new face of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and it introduces unique qualitative empirical data. I am unaware of any other book that enables the reader to hear firsthand women's personal stories of addiction, infection, and personal transformation. Berger's scholarship sets a feminist standard in work on stigmatized women by presenting such women as actors and thinkers, rather than victims and voiceless research data."--Julia Sudbury, Mills College, author of Other Kinds of Dreams: Black Women's Organizations and the Politics of Transformation
Synopsis
Workable Sisterhood is an empirical look at sixteen HIV-positive women who have a history of drug use, conflict with the law, or a history of working in the sex trade. What makes their experience with the HIV/AIDS virus and their political participation different from their counterparts of people with HIV? Michele Tracy Berger argues that it is the influence of a phenomenon she labels "intersectional stigma," a complex process by which women of color, already experiencing race, class, and gender oppression, are also labeled, judged, and given inferior treatment because of their status as drug users, sex workers, and HIV-positive women.
The work explores the barriers of stigma in relation to political participation, and demonstrates how stigma can be effectively challenged and redirected.
The majority of the women in Berger's book are women of color, in particular African Americans and Latinas. The study elaborates the process by which these women have become conscious of their social position as HIV-positive and politically active as activists, advocates, or helpers. She builds a picture of community-based political participation that challenges popular, medical, and scholarly representations of "crack addicted prostitutes" and HIV-positive women as social problems or victims, rather than as agents of social change. Berger argues that the women's development of a political identity is directly related to a process called "life reconstruction." This process includes substance- abuse treatment, the recognition of gender as a salient factor in their lives, and the use of nontraditional political resources.
Synopsis
"An important contribution to the sociology of AIDS and to feminist writing concerning women who are multiply stigmatized by racism, poverty, sexual abuse, drug use, and gender."--Nancy Stoller, University of California, Santa Cruz, author of
Lessons from the Damned: Queers, Whores, and Junkies Respond to AIDS"Groundbreaking! Workable Sisterhood expands the discussion of the new face of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and it introduces unique qualitative empirical data. I am unaware of any other book that enables the reader to hear firsthand women's personal stories of addiction, infection, and personal transformation. Berger's scholarship sets a feminist standard in work on stigmatized women by presenting such women as actors and thinkers, rather than victims and voiceless research data."--Julia Sudbury, Mills College, author of Other Kinds of Dreams: Black Women's Organizations and the Politics of Transformation
About the Author
Michele Tracy Berger is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She has been a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter One: The Politics of Intersectional Stigma for Women with HIV/AIDS 1
An Overview of the Story 2
The New "Face" of HIV//AIDS 6
Women's Community Work: Broadening the Definition of What Constitutes Politics 7
Intersectionality 18
Stigma and Marginality 22
Intersectional Stigma 24
Coming Out of the Shadows: Stigmatized Women and Politics 36
Chapter Two: Women's Narrative Bio-Sketches 37
Advocates 38
Activists 50
Helpers 58
Life Lessons 65
Chapter Three: Capturing the Research Journey/Listening to Women's Lives 68
Section One: Finding the Women 68
Section Two: Why Did She Say That?
Creating and Analyzing Oral Narratives 79
Limitations of the Study 85
Chapter Four: Narratives of Injustice: Discovery of the HIV/AIDS Virus 87
Narratives of Injustice 88
Consequences of the Discovery of the HIV/AIDS Virus 99
Intersectional Stigma as a Contributing Factor 102
Chapter Five Life Reconstruction and the Development of Nontraditional Political Resources 105
What Is Life Reconstruction?105
The Role of Resources 106
External Resources 107
Chapter Six: Life Reconstruction and Gender 119
Aspects of Respondents' Gender Identity before HIV//AIDS and Life Reconstruction 119
Redirecting HIV-Stigma Related to Sex Work 121
Sexual Self-(Re)Education and Empowerment 129
Development of a Public Voice: What It Means to Be a Woman with HIV 133
Consequences of Not Developing a Public Voice 139
Chapter Seven: Making Workable Sisterhood Possible: The Multiple Expressions of Political Participation 143
The Women's Distrust of Conventional Politics 143
Blended and Overlapping Roles 150
Narrative Features of Participation 180
Chapter Eight: Looking to the Future: Struggle and Commitment for Stigmatized Women with HIV/AIDS 186
Collective Stories 186
Policy, Prevention, and Treatment Implications 190
Appendix 193
Notes 195
Bibliography 209
Index 225