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The medical treatments to fight HIV/AIDS were limited during most of the history of the epidemic, marked by many deaths. Since the 1990's, the development of a number of anti-retrovirals, while not constituting a cure, has contributed to better health for many. For others living with HIV/AIDS, the side-effects of these medications have put these treatments into question. This article explores, from interviews of men and women living with HIV/AIDS in Montreal, the contradictory representations, oscillating between scepticism and hope, around the use of these medications.

Keywords: VIH/sida, traitements, entrevues, HIV/AIDS, treatment, interview

Between 1947 and 1954, medical scientists in Canada received support from federal and independent agencies to conduct a series of comparative biochemical studies on Inuit and white “test subjects.” Originally conceived from a racialized intrigue in defining the vascular characteristics of cold tolerance, the Canadian defence establishment absorbed the research with the intent to apply the findings to military service work in the North. Potentially unlocking the “Eskimo” secret to cold-weather acclimatization meant scientists could devise a screening process for selecting male white bodies for Arctic service. The research took place within the edifice of colonial science, but unlike wider postwar perceptions of the Indigenous body, this article presents the concept of biological appropriation to explore the perceived value of Inuit physiology to northern defence. Interpreting experiential research on Inuit as distinct from cultural assimilation provides a broader interpretation of postwar Arctic policy, and helps discern an understudied yet important episode of the Cold War sciences in Canada.

The history of medical malpractice in Canada has received little attention from legal or medical historians. Through a contextualized study of a Nova Scotia case from the 1930s, Davis v. Colchester County Hospital, this article demonstrates how changes in technology and surgical procedures both created situations that spurred malpractice claims, and made it difficult for injured patients to prove medical negligence. In addition, developments in tort law concerning the liability of hospitals, and the doctors and nurses working within them, provided medical defendants ample opportunity to avoid legal liability, even in cases in which the existence of negligent treatment was obvious. The testimony at trial, the legal strategies utilized by the lawyers, and the judicial rulings also shed light on attitudes of the medical profession toward personal responsibility and ethics, and demonstrates how the interests of patients were weighed against those of medical institutions and professionals by lawyers and judges.

Babatunde Ọlátúnjí's Drums of Passion (1960) caught the attention of prominent American musicians from John Coltrane to the Grateful Dead and turned on subsequent generations to West African djembe drumming. The inclusion of djembe drum circles in education is alarming because they are “based on the partial appropriation and transformation” of African-based drumming. This article suggests how to get out of drum circles by recognizing and embracing African melody, especially pitched idiophones and ensemble singing. We describe a program at two Historically Black Colleges that combines more equitable and accurate representation of African cultures with technological literacy and a greater range of learning modalities.

AbstractThe peasants of north Cameroon are anxious about the beginning of the privatization of SODECOTON and the drop in cotton revenues. The Agricultural Institute of Research for Development, in collaboration with the Regional Centre for Research and Development of the Savannah in Central Africa, conducted a study (2002) to assess the perception of peasants concerning the constraints of the cotton sector and to identify their strategies as regards those constraints. This study is based on the farmers' declarations and on a discussion workshop with the players in this sector. The results show that cotton is cultivated by the majority of peasants in north Cameroon. This product is practically impossible to circumvent. But the peasants appear unequally equipped to face the impending changes. Two groups may be distinguished: the first group is in a precarious situation and has adopted essentially “defensive” strategies of risk limitation. The second group is in a situation of development and capitalization and has chosen “offensive” strategies. The peasants also have established collective strategies through producer organizations. Discussions with the players have made it possible to identify organizational problems in the cotton sector upon which researchers and developers in this sector must focus.

Keywords: Mutations, coton, stratégies, exploitants agricoles, Cameroun, Mutations, cotton, strategies, farmers, Cameroon

AbstractBy melding with an immaterial and atemporal substance which is the source of all power and knowledge, Achuar shamans act as if they are continually reenacting the conditions described in the primordial myth, when society came into being. Using a comparative approach to unpack this logic, I will concentrate on the role and nature of essential substances and how these consolidate the ties between shamans and their allies in South America. Inspired by comments made by Bernard Saladin d'Anglure when he discussed ‘mythic allies', I will examine how these immaterial substances define the quintessence of being human and shape ethnicity and shamans' powers.

Keywords: Crépeau, Amérique du Sud, Amazonie, Achuar, chamanisme, substances chamaniques, Crépeau, South America, Amazon, Achuar, shamanism, mythic allies, Crépeau, América del Sur, Amazonia, Achuar, chamanismo, substancias chamanicas

AbstractAs is the case in other provinces, swine production in Quebec, considered by many to be fraught with risk, raise questions and spark controversy. The scientific community is still uncertain about its repercussions, especially its effects on public health. Our purpose in this article is therefore to examine the psychological and social impact of swine production. A systematic survey was carried out to assess the quality and appropriateness of scientific literature on the subject. Aggregated results show that there is a link between living standards and this type of animal production. The issue of pig farms apparently stokes controversy and social division, while exerting a negative influence on the individual's sense of belonging to a community and a specific social background. Pig farms therefore constitute a threat to human well-being and as such, they constitute a form of violence. The question is how to prevent it.

Keywords: Production animale, ferme porcine, risques sanitaires, perception des risques, impact social, controverse sociale, violence sociale, revue systématique des écrits, Animal production, pig farm, health risk, risk perception, social impact, social controversy, social violence, systematic review