HIV, Gender and the Politics of Medicine: Embodied Democracy in the Global South

This book explores the experiences of women living with HIV in South Africa who have fought for access to HIV medicines, highlighting the importance of understanding the embodied and political dimensions of health policy. It combines medical anthropology with science studies and political theory to trace the history of the struggle and articulate the lessons learned by activists and policy makers.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 29 April 2024
Publisher: Bristol University Press

This book delves into the lives of women living with HIV in South Africa, exploring their intricate experiences as they navigate a complex web of affective relationships, activist networks, government institutions, and global coalitions. Spanning a remarkable 20 years of ethnographic and policy research in South Africa, Brazil, and India, it sheds light on the profound significance of understanding the embodied and political dimensions of health policy. Through its in-depth analysis, the book unveils the interconnected threads that weave women's precarity into the governance of technologies and the technologies of governance. It illuminates the intertwined histories of health policy evolution, systemic inequality, and everyday life, emphasizing the urgent need for a recognition of the embodied ramifications of democratic politics and global health governance. By seamlessly integrating medical anthropology with science studies and political theory, this book traces the historical trajectory of the struggle to access HIV medicines in the Global South, while also bringing it into the present by articulating the valuable lessons learned by activists and policy makers who have been instrumental in shaping these critical health policies.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529221916