Prepared for Unesco by the Social Science Research Council

Remarks made by Lutheran leaders in Africa indicate that the churches have not been responding to the crisis ofthe HIV/AIDS pandemic sufficiently. In this essay I ask how the churches would be better prepared to act and also, morebroadly, how the churches act to begin with. The dialogue between religion and science can assist us with both tasks as weconsider the challenge of HIV/AIDS as a focus for this dialogue. First, analysis by social scientists can uncover what prob-lems face any effort to motivate churches to act-and, for that matter, any individual member of a church group. I argue,further, that we can discover the difficulties associated with producing action by religious communities by looking not atabstract theological ideas but by investigating the way those ideas are conveyed in worship. I explore the worship patternsof Lutherans to show what sort of view is actually produced by the week-to-week messages of liturgical texts. I contendthat a different approach both to worship and to action can be produced by reconsidering our views of reality as seenthrough the eyes of contemporary science. Nguyen, V.-K. (2002). "AIDS, NGOs and the Politics of Testimony in West Africa." Anthropologie et Societes 26(1): 69.This article examines the relevance of the notion of "moving sovereignties" to the analysis of humanitarian aid through thecase study of a small Burkinabe NGO responding to the AIDS epidemic. It shows that this NGO occupies an intermediaryspace between the discourses of development agencies & a local reality characterized by material need. The concern of theinternational community to empower persons living with HIV in the fight against the epidemic translated into a local mar-ket for testimonials by those living with HIV. The recruitment & circulation of these narratives serve to mobilize resources, &also introduce new forms of subjectivity. These are challenged by different relations of reciprocity & exchange "moraleconomies" that are traced by the circulation of these narratives. The negotiation of these moral economies by the actorsinvolved results in new political claims that define "therapeutic citizenship," &, through it, perhaps a new political space inthe contemporary world. 14 References. Adapted from the source document. Paiva, V., J. Ayres, et al. (2002). "Building Partnerships to respond to HIV/AIDS: non-governmental organizations and universities."AIDS 16(supl.3): S76-S82.Background: In the second decade of the AIDS epidemic in Brazil, public sector and non-governmental organization (NGO)initiatives multiplied, fostered by state AIDS Control Programmes. A growing gap between capacity and a need for pro-gramme evaluation and the dissemination of findings from experience in the field, combined with the failure of traditionaltraining approaches to bridge this gap adequately, inspired this non-degree research training programme at a major Bra-zilian university. Lessons learned: Participants increased their ability to master and review critically the AIDS literature, toconduct a research protocol and to disseminate the results of their studies. After completion of the 30-month process,many participants were able to present their findings at scientific conferences or publish their results in peer-reviewedscientific journals. This model of close NGO-university successful collaboration may inspire other models of research train-ing for those in the front-lines of the fight against the epidemic. Quintero, S. (2001). "Isms" and AIDS: Transforming Multicultural Coalitions into Radical Alliances. Anonymous, FORGING RADICALALLIANCES ACROSS DIFFERENCE: COALITION POLITICS FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM, Bystydzienski, Jill M., & Schacht, Steven P. [Eds],Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001, pp 91-103.Experience as an HIV/AIDS activist & coalition-builder in New York City is used to critique the role of identity politics inpromoting social change. Multicultural coalitions cannot be considered radical even if their agendas are. In practice, issuesof organization, resource allocation, & philosophy in the coalition may come to reflect the management of differences inrace, class, & gender. In the HIV/AIDS coalition described, there was direct competition & open conflict between individuals& groups that should have been allied in political action. The larger group was divided into those with & without the virus,& those advocating for different social constituencies, eg, women, gays, substance abusers, etc. AIDS activists also frag-mented along professional identity lines. The lesson learned is that a radical alliance would not only bring diverse groupsto face a common issue, but recognize & respect differences. Members need to desist from opposing one another, tran-scend tensions arising from these differences, & build community & movement. 15 References. M. Pflum. Redden, C. J. (2002). "Health as Citizenship Narrative." Polity 34(3): 355.This article examines the dynamics of health & disease as issues for citizenship. Citizenship entails the tension or balancebetween individual freedom & collective welfare. Thus, the investigation of health care (as distribution, provision, & access)aims to understand not only citizenship as membership & entitlement, but also as quality, substance, & cohesion. It is ar-gued that the stories of health & disease (in particular, AIDS & questions concerning mandatory HIV testing for pregnantwomen & newborns) are revealing of who is included (socially, politically, economically) & who is marginalized or excluded.Further, because AIDS is an issue for citizenship, it is necessary to examine the politics of disease in the context of contem-porary citizenship debates. Two theoretical frameworks are considered: privacy vs public health & social cohesion vs differ-entiation. The conclusion reached is that differentiated approaches to citizenship & political identity are relevant to health& bioethical debates. Adapted from the source document. Robins, S. (2004). "'Long Live Zackie, Long Live': AIDS Activism, Science and Citizenship after Apartheid." Journal of Southern Africanstudies 30(3): 651.This article analyzes the complex cultural politics of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. It focuses on how AIDS 'dissident' scienceimpacted on policy discourses & how AIDS activists, together with scientists, the media, & health professionals, responded.It also shows how the HIV/AIDS debate & struggles over access to treatment were framed by historically embedded cul-tural & political interpretations of AIDS that were a product of South Africa's apartheid & postapartheid history. However,rather than adopting a cultural nationalist response to this historical legacy, activists from the Treatment Action Campaign(TAC) deployed a class-based politics that concentrated on access to anti-retroviral drugs rather than debates on the com-Culture, HIV and AIDS: An Annotated Bibliography