How are politics and life narratives in the fields of HIV/AIDS activism in Europe entangled? – This was not an easy leading question of the EUROPACH Closing Conference “Living Politics: Remembering HIV/AIDS Activism Tomorrow”. AAE, as associated partner of the European research project EUROPACH, participated at its closing conference, which took place in Berlin, Germany on September 12, and 13.
The conference invited representatives of NGOs and activist groups as well as social science researchers and policy makers, all from the fields of HIV/AIDS, drug policy, LGBTQ rights, sex work, migration politics and prison health. It discussed the meaning, methods and importance of preserving histories of HIV/AIDS, and how these and other ongoing practices relate to current engagements with the epidemic.
Researchers and activists shared the stage to discuss HIV/AIDS policy development, and the roles communities living with and affected by HIV/AIDS played in forming them in the last 30+ years. Narratives and strategies found in their stories were present in the project deliverables, including the European HIV/AIDS Archive, which contains over 100 oral interviews with activists from Europe. Furthermore, the online material contains a library of case studies, events, timelines and good practices from the history of HIV/AIDS activism in Europe. All information and material is free to access at http://europach.phils.uj.edu.pl/project-outcomes
The enormous amount of HIV/AIDS activist engagement stories can help peers, community members and general public in learning from the past, in finding new strategies on current struggles and in acknowledging community efforts and empowering them.
