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Institutions, power and para-state alliances: a critical reassessment of HIV/AIDS politics in South Africa, 1999–2008*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2013

Theodore Powers
Theodore Powers*
Affiliation:
University of Pretoria, Human Economy Programme, Private Bag x20, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

From 1999 to 2008, delays in the adoption of a comprehensive treatment and prevention programme shortened the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. While the slow implementation of antiretroviral therapy has been attributed to a lack of institutional capacity, dissident views on HIV/AIDS and the effects of fiscal austerity, it was also an expression of power. This article analyses how the South African HIV/AIDS movement overcame this exercise of power by the AIDS dissident faction of the African National Congress (ANC) by building an alliance with the South African labour movement and moderate elements within the ruling party. The ANC's dissident faction responded to this by developing para-state partnerships with non-state organisations to support the AIDS dissident agenda. This study highlights the need to expand the para-state concept to take into account a wider range of social formations and the historically particular conditions under which they emerge.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , November 2013 , pp. 605 - 626
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

The author wishes to acknowledge Keith Hart, David Harvey, Nicoli Nattrass, Donald Robotham and Ida Susser for their feedback on earlier drafts of this article. As per the usual disclaimer, any errors or shortcomings in the analysis are the author's alone.

References

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