Smooth Machinery: Global Governmentality and Civil Society HIV/AIDS Work in Rwanda

In recent years there has been a massive influx of aid to civil society HIV/AIDS work in Africa. Drawing on fieldwork in Rwanda, this article explores, through a governmentality perspective, the rationalities and technologies of government that accompany the new funding schemes. The paper feeds into...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Globalizations 2014-11, Vol.11 (6), p.793-807
Main Author: Knutsson, Beniamin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Africa
Authoritarianism
Boundaries
Civil Society
Decision-making
development cooperation
Discourse
Fieldwork
Globaliseringsstudier
Globalization Studies
Governmentality
HIV
HIV/AIDS
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Machinery
Politics
Rationality
Regulation
Resistance
Rwanda
Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Technology
Tvärvetenskapliga studier
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Summary:In recent years there has been a massive influx of aid to civil society HIV/AIDS work in Africa. Drawing on fieldwork in Rwanda, this article explores, through a governmentality perspective, the rationalities and technologies of government that accompany the new funding schemes. The paper feeds into contemporary debates on the relevance of governmentality studies in Africa and on the complicated relationship between state, civil society, and international donors in the particular context of Rwanda. Despite the country's known record of authoritarian politics, the paper argues that Rwandan civil society organizations are in fact largely subject to advanced liberal rule, rendering them responsible and active in their own government. This global governmentality, in turn, unfolds through a post-political machinery that effectively blurs boundaries between international donor, state, and civil society institutions. Ultimately, this means that researchers interested in resistance must be prepared to extend their visual field considerably.
ISSN:1474-7731
1474-774X
DOI:10.1080/14747731.2014.916555