Abstract
Lining up my post-it notes and trashcan paper to simulate a ‘resource-poor’ writing environment, I wonder if it is possible to convey the spirit of a first rate collection of field studies without romanticizing their passion for grounding AIDS research in local knowledge. The problems revealed here are huge, so it is exciting to see how well applied linguistics integrates the data and mediates effective, life-giving communication. To date, AIDS intervention has emphasized a one sided ‘technical-scientific standpoint’ (p. 3). This book uses a wide variety of applied linguistics methodologies that open up this biomedical mode of analyzing/treating/managing AIDS, enabling AIDS workers and planners to collaborate with local ‘knowledge producers’ (p. 214). It is not possible to help uninfected people avoid the disease without becoming immersed in the lives of those with actual experience of the disease. At the heart of this book is an urgency to gather, share, and discuss local knowledges ‘across a wide range of settings’ from ‘both resource-rich and resource-poor nations’ (p. 10) with the goal of discovering and noticing the many subtle links between AIDS, poverty, gender, and the exercise of power. The chapters are logically arranged to conceptually build on each other. Clearly articulated, concrete ties between these diverse studies guide the reader into ever deeper insights. No review could possibly mention all the links in this chain or convey how the emerging patterns parallel those underlying other social problems such as sexual abuse. My own background in homeless and refugee empowerment work makes more sense to me in relation to these studies.
Published Version
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