‘How can I fix my disrupted life?’ Embodied experiences and biocitizenship among men who have sex with men living with HIV in China

Abstract

Drawing on qualitative data collected from men who have sex with men living with HIV in Fujian and Sichuan provinces in southeast and southwest China, respectively, this study aims to understand their lived experiences in the context of social norms, institutions and roles. We argue that informants encountered biographical disruption as a result of their diagnosed infection. They then painfully experienced different forms of social death on the one hand, while on the other, some also exerted agency/autonomy by strategically fighting for their rights and interests in both private and public domains. By examining these lived experiences, this study discusses the biological citizenship of the respondents so as to deepen understanding of embodied life experiences and trajectories.

Keywords:

• biological citizenship
• embodied experiences
• HIV
• men who have sex with men
• social death

Additional information

Funding

Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2072021097).