When bodies remember : experiences and politics of AIDS in South Africa / Didier Fassin ; translated by Amy Jacobs and Gabrielle Varro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fassin, Didier.

Series:

California series in public anthropology.

California series in public anthropology

Standardized Title:

Quand les corps se souviennent. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

AIDS (Disease)--Social aspects--South Africa.

AIDS (Disease).

AIDS (Disease)--Political aspects--South Africa.

AIDS (Disease)--Government policy--South Africa.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (390 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Introduction: Political Anesthesia and Anthropological Concern

1. As If Nothing Ever Happened

2. An Epidemic of Disputes

3. Anatomy of the Controversies

4. The Imprint of the Past

5. The Embodiment of the World

6. Living with Death

Conclusion: This World We Live In

Notes

Brief Chronology of South African History

Maps

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 329-351) and index.

ISBN:

9786611752545

9781281752543

1281752541

9780520940451

0520940458

9781429467957

1429467959

9780520904040

0520904044

OCLC:

437178346