The ‘Politics of the Queue’: The Politicization of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

Abstract

Starting from a body of literature on movements around "biological citizenship," this article analyses the political significance of HIV-positive people's collective action in Tanzania. We explore reasons for the limited impact of Tanzanian AIDS activism on the wider political scene, concluding that the formation of a "movement" is still in its infancy and faces many constraints, though some breakthroughs have been made. Participation in PLHA groups in Tanzania encourages politicizing struggles over representation, democratic forms and gender that can lead to a process of political socialization in which members learn to recognize and confront abuses of power. It is in such low-level, less visible social transformations that the greatest potential of participation in collective action around HIV/AIDS in Tanzania lies.

Revisiting the economics of transactional sex: evidence from Tanzania

“…However, mainstream economic approaches consistently fail to engage with this political element, as behaviour is conceptualised at the level of the individual, with little space for incorporating the need for collective action. There are also concerns regarding how these forms of struggle fit into standard public health and epidemiological preventative frameworks, or with donor priorities for measurable outcomes, in which the number of condoms distributed, or the number of people given access to ARV's can be quantified (Hunsmann 2010 (Beckmann and Bujra 2010). This presents a significant challenge in relation to prevention funding that requires more research and attention.…”

Can charity and rights-based movements be allies in the fight against HIV/AIDS? Bridging mobilisations in the United States and sub-Saharan Africa

“…In front of the goal of AIDS advocacy was the goal for day-to-day economic survival. When money began to come into the country through PEPFAR, the GFATM and other external sources, PWA groups and service organisations began to compete fiercely for it (Boesten 2011;Beckman and Bujra 2010). Unlike in the US, where activist leaders were able to fall back on their jobs, or at least some social safety net, PWA leaders in Tanzania often saw the PWA organisations themselves as potential employment opportunities.…”

“…Unlike in the US, where activist leaders were able to fall back on their jobs, or at least some social safety net, PWA leaders in Tanzania often saw the PWA organisations themselves as potential employment opportunities. The result, according to Beckman andBujra (2010, 1060), is that "Few leaders are wedded to a politics of social transformation or prioritizing the very poorest -they benefit by working within the system rather than challenging it".…”

Care, Disability and HIV in Africa: diverging or interconnected concepts and practices?

“…They distinguish between 'HIV' and 'AIDS' rather than conflating them as one condition, since people may live well with HIV for many years, and the high level of stigma is in large part a result of the association of AIDS with death. However, the acronym 'PLHA' is widely used by activists and in the literature, 17 and is not considered to dehumanise people living with HIV. Commentators have discussed the uneasy relationship between care research and disability studies in the global North, highlighting how the concepts of 'care' and 'dependence' may be perceived as oppressive and objectifying from a social model of disability perspective. 18 The interests, needs and perspectives of disabled people are often constructed as in radical opposition to those of 'carers', which has implications for political organising and advocacy by each group.…”