Ann Swidler and Susan Cotts Watkins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691173924
- eISBN:
- 9781400884988
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691173924.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
In the wake of the AIDS pandemic, legions of organizations and compassionate individuals descended on Africa from faraway places to offer their help and save lives. This book shows how the dreams of ...
More
In the wake of the AIDS pandemic, legions of organizations and compassionate individuals descended on Africa from faraway places to offer their help and save lives. This book shows how the dreams of these altruists became entangled with complex institutional and human relationships. The book describes the often mismatched expectations and fantasies of those who seek to help, of the villagers who desperately seek help, and of the brokers on whom both Western altruists and impoverished villagers must rely. Based on years of fieldwork in the heavily AIDS-affected country of Malawi, this book digs into the sprawling AIDS enterprise and unravels the paradoxes of AIDS policy and practice. All who want to do good—from idealistic volunteers to world-weary development professionals—depend on brokers as guides, fixers, and cultural translators. These irreplaceable but frequently unseen local middlemen are the human connection between altruists' dreams and the realities of global philanthropy. Personal stories, public scandals, and intersecting, sometimes clashing fantasies bring the lofty intentions of AIDS altruism firmly down to earth. The book ultimately argues that altruists could accomplish more good, not by seeking to transform African lives but by helping Africans achieve their own goals. It unveils the tangled relations of those involved in the collective struggle to contain an epidemic.Less
In the wake of the AIDS pandemic, legions of organizations and compassionate individuals descended on Africa from faraway places to offer their help and save lives. This book shows how the dreams of these altruists became entangled with complex institutional and human relationships. The book describes the often mismatched expectations and fantasies of those who seek to help, of the villagers who desperately seek help, and of the brokers on whom both Western altruists and impoverished villagers must rely. Based on years of fieldwork in the heavily AIDS-affected country of Malawi, this book digs into the sprawling AIDS enterprise and unravels the paradoxes of AIDS policy and practice. All who want to do good—from idealistic volunteers to world-weary development professionals—depend on brokers as guides, fixers, and cultural translators. These irreplaceable but frequently unseen local middlemen are the human connection between altruists' dreams and the realities of global philanthropy. Personal stories, public scandals, and intersecting, sometimes clashing fantasies bring the lofty intentions of AIDS altruism firmly down to earth. The book ultimately argues that altruists could accomplish more good, not by seeking to transform African lives but by helping Africans achieve their own goals. It unveils the tangled relations of those involved in the collective struggle to contain an epidemic.
Ann Swidler and Susan Cotts Watkins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691173924
- eISBN:
- 9781400884988
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691173924.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
This chapter illustrates the misunderstandings and accommodations that brokers and donors make. It begins with a story which, like many stories in the world of African aid, is an almost surreal ...
More
This chapter illustrates the misunderstandings and accommodations that brokers and donors make. It begins with a story which, like many stories in the world of African aid, is an almost surreal cultural mash-up. There are conflicting motives and complex misunderstandings between donors and brokers, and between both of these and villagers. Each arouses fantasies in the others that cannot be fulfilled. Nonetheless, because it is in the interest of each to do so, brokers and donors, and sometimes villagers, fumble toward working misunderstandings—ways of accommodating one another that allow them, however uncomfortably, to get along. The chapter takes up two themes that work very well for both donors and brokers: “fighting stigma” and “orphans and other vulnerable children,” both of which have been perennial favorites of the AIDS enterprise.Less
This chapter illustrates the misunderstandings and accommodations that brokers and donors make. It begins with a story which, like many stories in the world of African aid, is an almost surreal cultural mash-up. There are conflicting motives and complex misunderstandings between donors and brokers, and between both of these and villagers. Each arouses fantasies in the others that cannot be fulfilled. Nonetheless, because it is in the interest of each to do so, brokers and donors, and sometimes villagers, fumble toward working misunderstandings—ways of accommodating one another that allow them, however uncomfortably, to get along. The chapter takes up two themes that work very well for both donors and brokers: “fighting stigma” and “orphans and other vulnerable children,” both of which have been perennial favorites of the AIDS enterprise.
Ann Swidler and Susan Cotts Watkins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691173924
- eISBN:
- 9781400884988
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691173924.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
This chapter looks at how, in the romance of AIDS altruism, brokers must bridge the distance between the imaginations and aspirations of the altruists and those of the people they aim to help. For ...
More
This chapter looks at how, in the romance of AIDS altruism, brokers must bridge the distance between the imaginations and aspirations of the altruists and those of the people they aim to help. For some brokers, this is simply a job that puts food on the table and pays children's school fees; for others, it is also a mission to bring development to their countrymen; and for still others, it is an occasional gig. The chapter shows how the AIDS money that flooded into Malawi stimulated aspirations for social and economic mobility. It then introduces brokers along the aid chain—first formally, in their offices, and then informally, in their homes, as they try to juggle their professional and personal obligations and as they attempt to buffer the insecurity produced by the AIDS enterprise.Less
This chapter looks at how, in the romance of AIDS altruism, brokers must bridge the distance between the imaginations and aspirations of the altruists and those of the people they aim to help. For some brokers, this is simply a job that puts food on the table and pays children's school fees; for others, it is also a mission to bring development to their countrymen; and for still others, it is an occasional gig. The chapter shows how the AIDS money that flooded into Malawi stimulated aspirations for social and economic mobility. It then introduces brokers along the aid chain—first formally, in their offices, and then informally, in their homes, as they try to juggle their professional and personal obligations and as they attempt to buffer the insecurity produced by the AIDS enterprise.
Ann Swidler and Susan Cotts Watkins
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691173924
- eISBN:
- 9781400884988
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691173924.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
This concluding chapter explains how hard the task of the AIDS enterprise is. It is difficult because the visions that inspire the romance of altruism are often at odds with the visions of the ...
More
This concluding chapter explains how hard the task of the AIDS enterprise is. It is difficult because the visions that inspire the romance of altruism are often at odds with the visions of the brokers on whom the donors depend and with the visions of those living in villages or slums who long for help that will permit them to survive from day to day. It is particularly difficult for the giant institutional altruists such as USAID and Save the Children. Their tasks are hard because foreign aid, by definition, is sent to faraway places. The task is yet more daunting when it comes to AIDS prevention efforts in Africa, where the goal of institutional altruists is to change intimate behaviors that for many local people are central to life's joys and to its meanings.Less
This concluding chapter explains how hard the task of the AIDS enterprise is. It is difficult because the visions that inspire the romance of altruism are often at odds with the visions of the brokers on whom the donors depend and with the visions of those living in villages or slums who long for help that will permit them to survive from day to day. It is particularly difficult for the giant institutional altruists such as USAID and Save the Children. Their tasks are hard because foreign aid, by definition, is sent to faraway places. The task is yet more daunting when it comes to AIDS prevention efforts in Africa, where the goal of institutional altruists is to change intimate behaviors that for many local people are central to life's joys and to its meanings.
