HUMAN LIVES VERSUS VIRAL DEATHS: WHO CAN LIVE WITH THE VIRUS?

ABSTRACT

This article deals with the differential distribution of death in the face of viral epi-demics and pandemics. We will take the current Sars-CoV-2 pandemic in conjunc-tion with the HIV epidemic in order to understand how barriers that divide hu-mans into groups, by which it is decided who can or cannot die of a viral disease. Thinking from Donna Haraway's feminism and critique of human exceptionalism, her theory is articulated with the notions of biopolitics, necropolitics and framing, in order to situate the relationships between some humans and these viruses, con-sidering crossings such as race, gender and sexuality. It is possible to understand that, even without any scientific evidence that justify fatal encounters between some humans and viruses, the stories produced about these pathogens guide those who live or die in contact with them.