AIDS and Power

AIDS and Power PDF Author: Alex de Waal
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1848136099
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 134

Book Description
One in six adults in sub-Saharan Africa will die in their prime of AIDS. It is a stunning cataclysm, plunging life expectancy to pre-modern levels and orphaning millions of children. Yet political trauma does not grip Africa. People living with AIDS are not rioting in the streets or overthrowing governments. In fact, democratic governance is spreading. Contrary to fearful predictions, the social fabric is not being ripped apart by bands of unsocialized orphan children. AIDS and Power explains why social and political life in Africa goes on in a remarkably normal way, and how political leaders have successfully managed the AIDS epidemic so as to overcome any threats to their power. Partly because of pervasive denial, AIDS is not a political priority for electorates, and therefore not for democratic leaders either. AIDS activists have not directly challenged the political order, instead using international networks to promote a rights-based approach to tackling the epidemic. African political systems have proven resilient in the face of AIDS's stresses, and rulers have learned to co-opt international AIDS efforts to their own political ends. In contrast with these successes, African governments and international agencies have a sorry record of tackling the epidemic itself. AIDS and Power concludes without political incentives for HIV prevention, this failure will persist.

Moving Politics

Moving Politics PDF Author: Deborah B. Gould
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226305317
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 537

Book Description
In the late 1980s, after a decade spent engaged in more routine interest-group politics, thousands of lesbians and gay men responded to the AIDS crisis by defiantly and dramatically taking to the streets. But by the early 1990s, the organization they founded, ACT UP, was no more—even as the AIDS epidemic raged on. Weaving together interviews with activists, extensive research, and reflections on the author’s time as a member of the organization, Moving Politics is the first book to chronicle the rise and fall of ACT UP, highlighting a key factor in its trajectory: emotion. Surprisingly overlooked by many scholars of social movements, emotion, Gould argues, plays a fundamental role in political activism. From anger to hope, pride to shame, and solidarity to despair, feelings played a significant part in ACT UP’s provocative style of protest, which included raucous demonstrations, die-ins, and other kinds of street theater. Detailing the movement’s public triumphs and private setbacks, Moving Politics is the definitive account of ACT UP’s origin, development, and decline as well as a searching look at the role of emotion in contentious politics.

The Politics of AIDs in Africa

The Politics of AIDs in Africa PDF Author: Amy S. Patterson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781685857851
Category : POLITICAL SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Why do some African states commit more effectively than others to the fight against AIDS? How do power inequalities and decisionmaking institutions shape Africa's ability to combat the disease? Within the context of debates about the nature of the African state, its relations with civil society, and its reliance on external donors, Amy Patterson presents a systematic study of African state efforts to battle the AIDS epidemic. Patterson directly tackles the topics of power, representation, accountability, and leadership. She closely examines the impact of formal and informal institutions, transitions to democratic governance, and pressures from the international community. Her focus on the politics of state actions brings to the forefront the crucial need for a new, constructive, and sustainable politicization of the struggle against AIDS.

The Politics and History of AIDS Treatment in Brazil

The Politics and History of AIDS Treatment in Brazil PDF Author: Amy Nunn
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9781441918765
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Brazil’s public policy response to the AIDS epidemic preceded those of many developing countries. During my tenure as President, in 1996, Brazil adopted a law guaranteeing free and universal access to AIDS treatment for all people living with HIV/AIDS. Brazil became the first developing country to provide publicly-financed AIDS treatment for all people living with HIV/AIDS. We now have one of the world’s most successful AIDS programs that is considered a model for other dev- oping countries. Today, 185,000 people receive life-saving AIDS cocktails in Brazil, and thousands of lives have been saved. But this was not an easy battle. There were many challenges along the way. Twenty years ago, Brazil’s achie- ments today might have seemed impossible. During the 1980s, in Brazil, as elsewhere, there was overwhelming stigma associated with AIDS; people living with HIV often lost their jobs and died quickly before the advent of life-saving antiretroviral drugs. Brazil’s AIDS movement was extraordinarily important in promoting progressive AIDS policies; associations of people living with HIV were the first to denounce pervasive AIDS-related discri- nation and called public attention to the importance of AIDS. Activists protested in the streets for over a decade, engaged the media, and framed AIDS as a human rights issue.

Infectious Ideas

Infectious Ideas PDF Author: Jennifer Brier
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807895474
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Book Description
Viewing contemporary history from the perspective of the AIDS crisis, Jennifer Brier provides rich, new understandings of the United States' complex social and political trends in the post-1960s era. Brier describes how AIDS workers--in groups as disparate as the gay and lesbian press, AIDS service organizations, private philanthropies, and the State Department--influenced American politics, especially on issues such as gay and lesbian rights, reproductive health, racial justice, and health care policy, even in the face of the expansion of the New Right. Infectious Ideas places recent social, cultural, and political events in a new light, making an important contribution to our understanding of the United States at the end of the twentieth century.

Boundaries of Contagion

Boundaries of Contagion PDF Author: Evan Lieberman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400830451
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
Why have governments responded to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in such different ways? During the past quarter century, international agencies and donors have disseminated vast resources and a set of best practice recommendations to policymakers around the globe. Yet the governments of developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean continue to implement widely varying policies. Boundaries of Contagion is the first systematic, comparative analysis of the politics of HIV/AIDS. The book explores the political challenges of responding to a stigmatized condition, and identifies ethnic boundaries--the formal and informal institutions that divide societies--as a central influence on politics and policymaking. Evan Lieberman examines the ways in which risk and social competition get mapped onto well-institutionalized patterns of ethnic politics. Where strong ethnic boundaries fragment societies into groups, the politics of AIDS are more likely to involve blame and shame-avoidance tactics against segments of the population. In turn, government leaders of such countries respond far less aggressively to the epidemic. Lieberman's case studies of Brazil, South Africa, and India--three developing countries that face significant AIDS epidemics--are complemented by statistical analyses of the policy responses of Indian states and over seventy developing countries. The studies conclude that varied patterns of ethnic competition shape how governments respond to this devastating problem. The author considers the implications for governments and donors, and the increasing tendency to identify social problems in ethnic terms.

International Politics of HIV/AIDS

International Politics of HIV/AIDS PDF Author: Hakan Seckinelgin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134123736
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 206

Book Description
This book examines the global governance of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, interrogating the role of this international system and global discourse on HIV/AIDS interventions. The geographical focus is Sub-Saharan Africa since the region has been at the forefront of these interventions. There is a need to understand the relationship between the international political environment and the impact of resulting policies on HIV/AIDS in the context of people’s lives. Hakan Seckinelgin points out a certain disjuncture between this governance structures and the way people experience the disease in their everyday lives. Although the structure allows people to emerge as policy relevant target groups and beneficiaries, the articulation of needs and design of policy interventions tends to reflect international priorities rather than people’s thinking on the problem. In other words, he argues that while the international interventions highlight the importance attributed to the HIV/AIDS problem, the nature of the system does not allow interventions to be far reaching and sustainable. Offering a critical contribution to the understanding of the problems in HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, International Politics of HIV/AIDS will be invaluable to students and researchers of health, international politics and development.

The Political Economy of AIDS in Africa

The Political Economy of AIDS in Africa PDF Author: Nana K. Poku
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 135188400X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
Sub-Saharan Africa is a region devastated by HIV/AIDS. The extent of the epidemic is only now becoming clear, as increasing numbers of people with HIV are becoming ill. In the absence of massively expanded prevention, treatment and care efforts, the AIDS death toll on the continent is set to escalate rapidly. Despite progress being achieved in localized settings, the alarming statistics reflect the continuing failure of advanced countries to mount a response that matches the scale and severity of the African HIV/AIDS crisis. Over and above the colossal personal suffering, the dire social and economic consequences for fragile nation-states are already being felt, not only in health but in education, industry, agriculture, transport, human resources and economies in general. Countries already crippled by drought, poverty, debt, forced migration and civil war must now contend with massive deterioration in child survival rates and life expectancy, the erosion of the economic family base, massive and insupportable demands on health and public services, chronic labour shortages and volatile national security. Through a critical and detailed exploration of specific case studies, this invaluable volume brings together an unparalleled array of international contributors to redefine the political and economic contours of this calamitous epidemic. It examines the impact of the shortfalls in the 'Global Fund' allocation, the slow pace of administrative processing of aid and the weaknesses of institutional responses to the crisis from African countries and their partners in the global health community. It is essential reading for all concerned with public health, epidemiology, HIV/AIDS research, globalization, development, Africa and indeed our shared future. Features include: ” Unique assessments of HIV/AIDS and its impact on democracy and governance in African states ” Wide-ranging regional and country studies by the foremost thinkers in their fields ” Multi-disciplinary contributions from areas including: Politics, Sociology, Public Health and Development Studies ” Compelling and convincing evidence, thematic in approach ” Innovative and culturally specific insights for long-term planning, care and support

The Politics of AIDS

The Politics of AIDS PDF Author: Håkan Thörn
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230583717
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
HIV/AIDS is the major political challenge of our time. Based on empirical observations from all over the world, this book examines how HIV/AIDS has become increasingly transnational, as nation states have extended their programmes across borders, and transnational networks have increased their activities.

When Bodies Remember

When Bodies Remember PDF Author: Didier Fassin
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520940458
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 390

Book Description
In this book, France's leading medical anthropologist takes on one of the most tragic stories of the global AIDS crisis—the failure of the ANC government to stem the tide of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Didier Fassin traces the deep roots of the AIDS crisis to apartheid and, before that, to the colonial period. One person in ten is infected with HIV in South Africa, and President Thabo Mbeki has initiated a global controversy by funding questionable medical research, casting doubt on the benefits of preventing mother-to-child transmission, and embracing dissidents who challenge the viral theory of AIDS. Fassin contextualizes Mbeki's position by sensitively exploring issues of race and genocide that surround this controversy. Basing his discussion on vivid ethnographical data collected in the townships of Johannesburg, he passionately demonstrates that the unprecedented epidemiological crisis in South Africa is a demographic catastrophe as well as a human tragedy, one that cannot be understood without reference to the social history of the country, in particular to institutionalized racial inequality as the fundamental principle of government during the past century.