Research on the politics of AIDS

To coincide with the International AIDS conference, which is ongoing in Washington, D.C. right now, Dennis Altman and Kent Buse organized and edited a special journal issue entitled, “Thinking Politically About HIV.” Most of the papers were discussed in some form during a workshop I attended in Bangkok last year.

My own chapter examines the extent of substantive representation on infectious diseases in South Africa according to race and gender. Others include an overview of political science research on the epidemic, and various case studies spanning world regions.

Also, perhaps of interest, for those (such as myself) who are not actually attending the conference, the Kaiser Family Foundation is hosting live and archived webcasts of major sessions.

XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) Washington D.C. Plenary Session © IAS/Ryan Rayburn – Commercialimage.net

DA party’s provocative campaign to break down race boundaries in South Africa

Check out Baas DeBeer’s post on the Democratic Alternative youth league’s campaign promoting the idea of breaking down race and other boundaries: So, the DA made a poster….

From a marketing perspective, I think it was a risky move, but most memorable campaigns are. It has created a buzz, prompted conversation regarding not only the campaign but also the product, and most importantly it engaged a wider audience than it’s standard crowd. It has made a bold statement, and the youth league’s target market generally appreciates bold statements.

Such a campaign will never be without criticism

We ARE one nation, isn’t it about time we start acting like it?