Action=Vie: A History of AIDS Activism and Gay Politics in France

By Christophe Broqua

Act Up-Paris became one of the most notable protest groups in France in the mid-1990s. Founded in 1989, and following the New York model, it became a confrontational voice representing the interests of those affected by HIV through openly political activism. Action=Vie, the English-language translation of Christophe Broqua's study of the grassroots activist branch, explains the reasons for the group's success and sheds light on Act Up's defining features-such as its unique articulation between AIDS and gay activism.

Featuring numerous accounts by witnesses and participants, Broqua traces the history of Act Up-Paris and shows how thousands of gay men and women confronted the AIDS epidemic by mobilizing with public actions. Act Up-Paris helped shape the social definition not only of HIV-positive persons but also of sexual minorities. Broqua analyzes the changes brought about by the group, from the emergence of new treatments for HIV infection to normalizing homosexuality and a controversy involving HIV-positive writers' remarks about unprotected sex. This rousing history ends in the mid-2000s before marriage equality and antiretroviral treatments caused Act Up-Paris to decline.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439903204
• ISBN13: 9781439903209
• Release Date: February 2020
• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.1"