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Forum 2016

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  • Bridget O'Laughlin
  • Beniamin Knutsson

Abstract

type="main"> While access to antiretroviral therapy has improved worldwide, many people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) still suffer from economic hardship. Socio-economic impact mitigation is therefore becoming an increasingly important component of the global HIV/AIDS response. The content of such strategies, however, is dependent on the political rationalities underpinning them. Drawing on fieldwork in Rwanda, this article explores programmatic efforts by the Rwandan government and its international partners to govern the economic life of PLHIV. These interventions are conceptualized as a form of biopolitics and the article analyses the neoliberal modalities of government through which it operates. At the centre of the strategy is a pretension to transform PLHIV from economically unproductive life, sustained by medical means, into a resilient and enterprising population willing to accept responsibility for their own livelihoods. However, according to the strategy, the only way for PLHIV to lead responsible economic lives is by daring to become entrepreneurial and enrolling in microcredit schemes. Thus the dubious message conveyed is that responsible conduct is tantamount to exposing oneself to risk. The article also discusses the complex coexistence of this neoliberal biopolitics and the Rwandan government's known efforts to exercise sovereign control.

Suggested Citation

  • Bridget O'Laughlin & Beniamin Knutsson, 2016. "Forum 2016," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(4), pages 615-639, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:47:y:2016:i:4:p:615-639
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kees Biekart & Rob Aitken, 2013. "The Financialization of Micro-Credit," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(3), pages 473-499, May.
    2. Gerhard Anders & Olaf Zenker & Simon Turner, 2014. "Making Good Citizens from Bad Life in Post-Genocide Rwanda," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(3), pages 415-433, May.
    3. Anke F. Schwittay, 2014. "Making Poverty Into A Financial Problem: From Global Poverty Lines To Kiva.Org," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 508-519, May.
    4. Lisa Ann Richey, 2012. "Counselling Citizens and Producing Patronage: AIDS Treatment in South African and Ugandan Clinics," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(4), pages 823-845, July.
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