Disability as Disposability: AIDS, COVID, and the Manufacturing of a Viral Underclass
Embodied Inequalities Event
On April 21 at 3:00pm, join IRRPP and the Health Humanities Program at the College of Medicine for a talk by Northwestern University professor Steven Thrasher who will present a chapter from his upcoming book The Viral Underclass that explores how SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, and HIV are connected because they affect populations considered disabled and disposable by capital.
Drawing on queer theory, disability studies, and his decade of journalism on HIV, Dr. Thrasher will show how Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump and Democratic Governors Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsome alike have all considered disabled populations to be disposable, subjecting them to needless viral risk.
Modified on September 11, 2023