Christianson, Adam. 2025. Styles of thought in healthcare governance: A situational analysis of English PrEP discourse 2016–2020. BioSocieties, ISSN 1745-8552 [Article] (In Press)

Text s41292-025-00351-8.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (786kB)

Abstract or Description

Attending to competing styles of thought in healthcare controversies may be helpful to critical health scholarship. This article reexamines the debate over the introduction of a new HIV prevention technology in England as a tension between epidemiological and molecular style of thoughts. I argue English HIV services were organised according to an epidemiological style of thought. The introduction of biomedical pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to the health system brought this rationality into question in ways the English health system was ill-prepared to manage. A situational analysis of English PrEP discourse in the lead up and following NHS-England’s ‘U-turn’ on PrEP illustrates a split along epidemiologically and biomedically informed styles of thought. These networks have their dedicated administrators, experts, activists and ways of thinking about their target population and preferred organisation of HIV services. Though they often collaborate, these two groups have distinct moral and political agendas that relate to their style of thinking. This analysis further nuances existing critical interpretations of the PrEP controversy in England. Beyond England, this debate suggests a potential departure from the conventional biopolitical subject and rationality of advanced liberalism.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1057/s41292-025-00351-8
Additional Information:	Funding: This study was supported by Wellcome Trust, 212621/Z/18/Z, Adam Christianson, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 752-2018-0027, Adam Christianson.
Data Access Statement:	Not applicable.
Keywords:	HIV prevention, Molecularisation, Style of thought, Governmentality, Grounded theory
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Sociology
Dates:	Date Event 11 March 2025 Accepted 13 April 2025 Published Online
Item ID:	38743
Date Deposited:	25 Apr 2025 15:11
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2025 15:15
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/38743

View statistics for this item...

Edit Record (login required)