AIDS as a paradox of manhood and development in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

When AIDS emerged in the Kilimanjaro region in 1984, many Chagga (the predominant ethnic group in the region) viewed it as a ‘disease of development’. Whereas AIDS was commonly seen in the West as a form of punishment for non-reproductive and non-productive lifestyles, in East Africa it represented...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 1996-10, Vol.43 (8), p.1169-1178
Main Author: Setel, Philip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Adult
Africa
AIDS
AIDS Africa medical anthropology gender
AIDS/HIV
Anthropology, Cultural
Biological and medical sciences
Condoms
Cultural Change
Demographics
Female
gender
Gender Identity
Health Behavior
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health risk assessment
HIV
HIV Infections - ethnology
HIV Infections - prevention & control
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus
Humans
Life Stage Transitions
Male
Males
Marriage - ethnology
Masculinity
Medical anthropology
Medical sciences
Perceptions
Population Dynamics
Prevention
Prevention and actions
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Risk factors
Sexual Behavior
Social Attitudes
Social Change
Social Development
Social Values
Socio-economic development
Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...)
Tanzania
Tanzania - epidemiology
Young Adults
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:When AIDS emerged in the Kilimanjaro region in 1984, many Chagga (the predominant ethnic group in the region) viewed it as a ‘disease of development’. Whereas AIDS was commonly seen in the West as a form of punishment for non-reproductive and non-productive lifestyles, in East Africa it represented paradoxes in reproductive and productive life—especially for young, mobile men. This article discusses the emergence of the conditions of risk for HIV among young adults in the 1980s and 1990s, and then explores the perceptions of local actors about the historical and demographic processes that have surrounded the symbolic associations of AIDS. The themes that AIDS evoked were different for men and women; from one perspective, AIDS was seen as an attenuated crisis of the productive and reproductive labors of manhood. For people in northern Kilimanjaro, this disease illuminated contested issues in historical dialogues about social change and the moral value of male participation in idealized forms of work and prescribed male/female unions. The implications of these cultural and demographic realities for AIDS prevention are discussed in the conclusion.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00360-6