Governing Sub-Saharan HIV/AIDS through Gender

Abstract

Third World gender-issues have attracted much interest because of their perceived importance for the governance of Third World maladies hindering development and security. This enthusiasm has created many gender-based efforts to govern different Third World maladies. Despite the popular celebration of such efforts, they should be examined critically, for they function within specific limits. In this spirit, this article examines gender-based governance of sub-Saharan HIV/AIDS. It is often said that one of the most important ways of governing sub-Saharan HIV/AIDS involves attention to gender inequality as a key driver of HIV/AIDS. However, when contrasted with the vast literature that emphasizes the heterogeneity and dynamism of gender relations in Africa, it becomes clear that when sub-Saharan HIV/AIDS is addressed through gender it happens at the cost of simplifications that enable sub-Saharan HIV/AIDS to be made globally governable through gender, thereby securing liberalism.