The Politics of Securing Borders and the Identities of Disease

Sociology of Health & Illness Vol. 35 No. 2 (2013): 241–254

22 Pages Posted: 16 Jul 2020

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

This article compares the policies adopted by Britain, France and Germany to cope with health threats thought to be posed by entrants and migrants and explains why these governments screened at their borders for tuberculosis but not for human immunodeficiency virus⁄ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV⁄AIDS). In order to understand these outcomes, we must recognise that diseases acquire durable identities, conditioned by collective imaginaries and institutional contexts when they first come to attention, which bias subsequent decisions, notably about how to balance the value of mandatory testing against the rights of the individual.

Keywords: migrants,tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, borders, EU, disease identity

Suggested Citation

Taylor, Rosemary C.R., The Politics of Securing Borders and the Identities of Disease (2013). Sociology of Health & Illness Vol. 35 No. 2 (2013): 241–254, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3357718

Rosemary C.R. Taylor (Contact Author)

Tufts University ( email )

111B Eaton Hall
Dept. of Sociology, 5 The Green
Medford, MA 02155
United States

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