Patienthood at the Crossroads: Health, Activism, and the Remaking of Authority and Expertise from HIV/AIDS to Covid-19
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- Date
- 21 August 2025, 17:00–18:30
- Location
- University Main Building, Sal XI
- Type
- Lecture
- Lecturer
- Steven Epstein
- Organiser
- Centre for Medical Humanities, Department of History of Science and Ideas, ActDisease
- Contact person
- Ylva Söderfeldt
Keynote lecure during the workshop Cultivating Patients: Identities, Technologies, and Trading Zones of Patienthood. The lecture is open to the public. No pre-registration needed.
Steven Epstein, the John C. Shaffer Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University, has had a significant influence across multiple disciplines within the humanities and social sciences—particularly in the areas of medical research, activism, and the role of the patient. His most renowned work explores how patients acquire and challenge medical expertise, as well as how patient movements shape medical research processes, especially through studies of AIDS activism.
Among his notable publications are Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge (California, 1996) and Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research (Chicago, 2007), both of which have received multiple awards. His most recent book, The Quest for Sexual Health: How an Elusive Ideal Has Transformed Science, Politics, and Everyday Life, was published in 2022.