Viral Frictions takes the reader along a trail of intersecting narratives to uncover how and why it is that HIV-related stigma persists in the age of treatment. Pfeiffer convincingly argues that stigma is a socially constructed process co-produced at the nexus of local, national, and global relationships and storytelling about and practices associated with HIV. Based on a decade of fieldwork in one highway trading center in Kenya, Viral Frictions offers compelling stories of stigma and discrimination as a lens for understanding broader social processes, the complexities of globalization and health, and their profound impact on the everyday social lives and relationships of people living through the ongoing HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. This highly engaging book is ideal reading for those interested in teaching and learning about intersectionality, as Pfeiffer meticulously demonstrates how HIV stigma interacts with issues of treatment, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, social change, and international aid systems.

"Through engaging storytelling and careful analysis, Viral Frictions examines the persistence of stigma surrounding AIDS in Kenya. Tracing the intersection of multiple axes of inequality and illuminating the complicity of global actors, Elizabeth Pfeiffer provides a new and insightful perspective on an enduring problem. Further, her rich ethnography takes a Rift Valley 'truck stop'—stereotypically reduced to a risk site—and reveals a vibrant community." - author of AIDS Doesn’t Show Its Face: Inequality, Morality, and Social Change in Nigeria

"“An exquisite ethnography of the complex social frictions arising from decades of HIV interventions, and more recent efforts to 'end AIDS,' in Kenya. Deftly interweaving history, theory, and ethnographic stories, Viral Frictions offers a humane and carefully wrought reminder that HIV stigma persists in social relations even as the virus becomes increasingly 'undetectable' in bodies due to biomedical treatment.”" - author of Mistreated: The Political Consequences of the Fight Against AIDS in Lesotho

"Through engaging storytelling and careful analysis, Viral Frictions examines the persistence of stigma surrounding AIDS in Kenya. Tracing the intersection of multiple axes of inequality and illuminating the complicity of global actors, Elizabeth Pfeiffer provides a new and insightful perspective on an enduring problem. Further, her rich ethnography takes a Rift Valley 'truck stop'—stereotypically reduced to a risk site—and reveals a vibrant community." - author of AIDS Doesn’t Show Its Face: Inequality, Morality, and Social Change in Nigeria

"“An exquisite ethnography of the complex social frictions arising from decades of HIV interventions, and more recent efforts to 'end AIDS,' in Kenya. Deftly interweaving history, theory, and ethnographic stories, Viral Frictions offers a humane and carefully wrought reminder that HIV stigma persists in social relations even as the virus becomes increasingly 'undetectable' in bodies due to biomedical treatment.”" - author of Mistreated: The Political Consequences of the Fight Against AIDS in Lesotho