Syncretism and subversion in AIDS governance: how locals cope with global demands

Abstract

This article attempts to lay out a set of broad theoretical questions illustrated with material from two visits to sub-Saharan Africa including interviews with government officials and international organization representatives in Botswana and Malawi about 70 interviews with staff from AIDS NGOs across sub-Saharan Africa and an initial effort at mapping the universe of organizations responding to Africas AIDS pandemic. The article focuses on four issues: (1) the nature of the organizations responding to AIDS in Africa; (2) the relation of AIDS governance to existing patterns of African governance including the possibilities of syncretism and conversely a stand-off between the organizational models created by AIDS NGOs and existing patterns of authority and cooperation in African societies; (3) the problems and possibilities of cultural match between existing repertoires of collective action schemas and those proffered by NGOs and international organizations;1 and (4) the slippery matter of the play of power money and identity in a field of power with very unequal players. (excerpt)