RePlacing Citizenship: AIDS Activism and Radical Democracy, Michael P. Brown, Guilford Press, 1997
While not a perfect place to live for gays and lesbians, Vancouver was known as a pretty tolerant sort of place, attracting people from all over Canada. This book looks at the city's reaction to the AIDS epidemic in the early 90s, from the point of view of exploring new forms of citizenship, somewhere between the state and the individual.
At that time, British Columbia was run by a very right-wing government, so the public attitude was one of Gays Are Evil. Privately, money found its way from the provincial government to the AIDS organizations in the city. The book also explores how the agencies handled the various aspects of AIDS, from lobbying to financial help to people with AIDS, leaving ACT UP kind of out in the cold, a group in search of their niche.
With many quotes from the people involved, Brown looks at the concept of buddying to people with AIDS, from the point of view of radical democracy and new types of citizenship.
This book isn't for everyone, but it's on a subject that matters to everyone. It's kind of on the scholarly side, but this book is very interesting.
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