Everyday Reality of Older HIV-Positive Migrants in Germany

In Germany, as in most of the countries in the Global North HIV due to medical advancement has developed to a chronic disease. Now the average age of people living with HIV and AIDS is increasing and so is the proportion of older people among the HIV-infected population. In a couple of years, it is expected that more than half of the people living with HIV in Germany will be 50 years and older. At the same time, another phenomenon that has recently gained increasing significance in science and politics are older migrants in Germany. Until the early 2000s, older migrants were barely noticed in science and politics. However, due to their increase in number and proportion older migrants and their often-precarious situation in old age - which is considered a social problem – an augmented interest can be observed. The group of older migrants are the most growing population group among the elderly people in Germany. Concurrently however, the dominant aging discourse in Germany is neoliberal. The neoliberal aging discourse in Germany promotes active and healthy aging and demands from the older citizens to productively contribute to the prosperous development of the society.

The reality of life of older HIV-positive migrants living in Germany are examined with an intersectional approach. With narrative interviews and social network maps the complexity of biographical compositions of lives that are moulded by experiences of migration, the HIV-infection as a socially highly stigmatised disease and the subjective experience of aging as a significant phase in life are traced. The research’s sociological and social-psychological focus is on the subjective dealings with the interactions of the HIV-infection, the experiences of migration and the process of aging against the backdrop of neoliberal aging discourses in Germany.