Looks at sixteen HIV-positive women who have a history of drug use, conflict with the law, or a history of working in the sex trade. This work explores the barriers of stigma in relation to political participation, and demonstrates how stigma can be effectively challenged and redirected. "This work . . . brought new emphasis to the significance of the relationship between social identity and stigma. . . . [T]his research, which Berger found challenging throughout, points to a possibility for change that resides within many individuals society has written off as lost."---Betsy L. Fife, American Journal of Sociology