A Fraught Embrace: The Romance and Reality of AIDS Altruism in Africa (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology) - Softcover

Swidler, Ann; Watkins, Susan Cotts

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691183201 ISBN 13: 9780691183206

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2018

Synopsis

In the wake of the AIDS pandemic, legions of organizations and compassionate individuals from faraway places descended on Africa to offer help and save lives. Ann Swidler and Susan Cotts Watkins vividly describe the often mismatched expectations and fantasies of altruists who dream of transforming lives, 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 incisive, irreverent book digs into the sprawling AIDS enterprise and unravels the paradoxes of 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. The mutual misunderstandings among these players create all the drama of a romance: longing, exhilaration, disappointment, heartache, and sometimes an enduring connection. A Fraught Embrace unveils the tangled relations of those involved in the collective struggle to contain an epidemic.

About this title

About the Author

Ann Swidler is Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley. Susan Cotts Watkins is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles.

From the Back Cover

"Using a detailed study of the actions and reactions regarding AIDS in Malawi, this fantastic book describes essential features of the current system for delivering humanitarian assistance. Swidler and Watkins look at the role of brokers who connect international donors with beneficiaries, examine the altruists who operate within a moral universe that leads them to be out of touch, and offer a compelling takedown of common humanitarian cultural practices and notions of sustainability."--Lant Pritchett, Harvard Kennedy School

"A Fraught Embrace analyzes the organizational dynamics of the response to HIV/AIDS in Africa, focusing on the efforts of international and local groups to balance the fantasies of donors with the real needs of communities. Highlighting prevention campaigns in Malawi, the authors characterize organizational responses as erratic and uneven. This accessible and at times humorous book is essential reading for sociologists interested in the global AIDS industry."--Claire Decoteau, University of Illinois at Chicago

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691183201
• ISBN 13: 9780691183206
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304