ABSTRACT
This book explores the connections between the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics and how both compel us to reflect on our close relationships with viruses. Although there are differences, both pandemics share similarities in relation to their political, social and cultural features. In this introduction, the editors reflect on the process of conducting research amidst a pandemic, and on the multiple, complex and multidirectional ways in which HIV influences COVID-19 and COVID-19 changes HIV. The book brings diverse disciplinary perspectives into conversation with one another to explore how pandemics profoundly impact practices of intimacy and relationships, how social factors are often neglected in responses to viral times, and finally the value of activism, community engagement and social justice. Overall, the book looks back at the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics to envision more equitable pandemic responses and looks forward using COVID-19 as a departure point to rethink the role of viruses in intimate life, social discourses and activism.
