The governance of AIDS in Chile: power/knowledge, patient-user organisation, and the formation of the biological citizen

This article studies the somehow overlooked relation between governance, power/knowledge, patient-user organisations, and biological citizenship. Our case study is Vivopositivo, a Chilean umbrella NGO that gathers together grassroots organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS. In terms of methodology, our descriptions and analyses are based on archival and documentary research, website research, a period of three months of participant observation, and twelve semi-structured interviews with leaders and key members of Vivopositivo. Our key finding is that we are witnessing an emerging form of articulation of knowledge, governance, and social movement organizations that reconfigure what we call the power/knowledge configuration in the field of health and illness. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]