泰坦尼克定律:中国艾滋病风险分析

The Titanic Rule:A risk analysis of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China

本文将对“泰坦尼克定律”予以阐述并结合“风险社会学说”作为讨论中国艾滋病风险问题的基础。“泰坦尼克定律”旨在说明社会等级与人们易受伤害性的关联;“风险社会学说”中有关主观风险和客观风险的分析旨在阐述实际存在的风险和人们认知中的风险之所以对称或者错位。如果将“泰坦尼克定律”和“风险社会学说”同时纳入分析框架,我们就会发现,中国艾滋病流行的实际风险和风险认知都带有深深的社会阶层烙印。从这个轨迹考察问题,我们还会看到实际风险和风险认知的重合。更为简明地讲,社会地位越低下的人们在客观意义上的易受伤害风险越大,同时风险意识中的错误知识和恐惧成分越多。造成这一重合现象的根本原因是社会分层的作用。总之,“泰坦尼克定律”是本文分析途径的向导,“风险社会学说”则属于本文对艾滋病风险予以社会解释的引擎,两者为互补关系。

This article utilizes the concept of “Titanic Rule” in combination with theories of risk society to guide a discussion of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China. The so-called “Titanic Rule” as it is applied to the analysis that follows refers to the correlations of vulnerability to HIV/AIDS with social class and social stratification. Theories of risk society are used here for the sake of their power in depicting the interactions or conflicts between objective risks and risk perceptions. By using the concept of “Titanic Rule” in combination with theories of risk society, we would be in a position to see clearly that the association of objective risks and risk perceptions in China's AIDS epidemic are deeply engraved with the benchmarks of social class and social stratification. The two conceptual tools are complimentary to each other and serve as the article's guiding framework.