Grassroots AIDS Knowledge: Implications for the Boundaries of Science and Collective Action more

Grassroots AIDS groups create, disseminate, and interpret knowledge. Their success in these new roles shows that: traditional, top-down dissemination theories are inadequate; the debate over marginal innovation has defined marginality too simplistically; and the scientific journal is not the only source of scientific information. This, and "boundary work" by mainstream scientists, indicates that, despite problems, AIDS grassroots knowledge production challenges traditional definitions and boundaries of scientific work, offering a gateway to wider democratization of science. A resource mobilization approach is applied to assess whether the grassroots' AIDS knowledge production model can work for toxic exposures and women's health issues.