Neo-liberalism and AIDS Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa : Globalization's Pandemic

O'Manique critically examines the evolution of the policy response to AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa through a feminist political economy lens, focusing on the relationship between neo-liberalism, the spread of AIDS and the hegemonic policy response. It explores the ways in which AIDS has been constructed as a 'development' problem and how AIDS knowledges and institutions have evolved and have shaped interventions in the AIDS sector. Central to the analysis is a historical case-study of Uganda. Despite two decades of AIDS control and prevention on the African continent, the spread of HIV continues unabated. Critically examining the evolution of the policy response to AIDS in Africa over the past two decades, this book situates the analysis within the broader context of global neoliberalism. O'Manique argues that AIDS policy in Africa constitutes a form of neoliberal governance, to the extent that there exists very little challenge to the reigning policy framework both in terms of how it has contributed to the present AIDS crisis, and the framework within which the crisis should be addressed: the acceptance of international competitive rules, liberal economies, and a belief that market arrangements and the voluntary sector can provide an adequate social safety net to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in communities. Today's 'AIDS crisis' is as much a health crisis as a gendered crisis of daily household and generational reproduction - a crisis borne largely by poor rural women Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction: Globalization’s Pandemic....Pages 1-15 AIDS Knowledges and Africa’s Pandemic....Pages 16-43 Africa in the Global Institutional Response....Pages 44-77 The Other ‘War on Drugs’....Pages 78-98 Why Africa? Uganda’s Epidemic in Historical Perspective....Pages 99-134 The Uganda ‘Success Story’....Pages 135-168 Conclusion....Pages 169-177 Back Matter....Pages 178-207 O'Manique examines the evolution of the policy response to AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa from the perspective of feminist politics. She focuses on the relationship between neo-liberalism, the spread of AIDS and the hegemonic policy response