Incursions from the epicentre: Southern theory, social science, and the global HIV research domain

Research about HIV constitutes a global domain of academic knowledge. The patterns that structure this domain reflect inequalities in the production and dissemination of knowledge, as well as broader inequalities in geopolitics. Conventional metrics for assessing the value and impact of academic research reveal that "Northern" research remains dominant, while "Southern" research remains peripheral. Southern theory provides a framework for greater critical engagement with knowledge produced by researchers within the global South. With a focus on HIV social science, we show that investigators working in and from Africa have produced and disseminated knowledge fundamental to the global domain of HIV research, and argue that their epistemological contribution may be understood within the framework of Southern theory. Through repurposing a bibliometrical measure of citation count, we constitute a new archive of highly cited social science research. With a focus on South Africa, we situate this archive within changing historical contexts, connecting research findings to developments in medicine, health sciences and politics. We focus on two key themes in the evolution of HIV knowledge: (1) the significance of context and locality ­ the "setting" of HIV research; and (2) sex, race and risk ­ changing ideas about the social determinants of HIV transmission

Researching to Make a Difference: Possibilities for Social Science Research in the Age of AIDS

HIV and AIDS is recognized as one of the most devastating pandemics of sub-Saharan Africa; and South Africa in particular; with adverse effect on individuals; families; schools; communities and society at large. Research is therefore required to provide a deeper understanding of the complexities of HIV and AIDS in order to mitigate the effect of the pandemic. Much of the excellent research that has been done has been undertaken within a positivist paradigm and has focused on the biomedical aspects of HIV and AIDS; as well as the social aspects of the pandemic. This theoretical position paper draws on various projects in the field of HIV and AIDS education in rural KwaZulu-Natal to argue that more social science research should be framed within a participatory research paradigm; foregrounding participant engagement and process; and which simultaneously has a 'research-as-intervention' focus. Such research adheres to the requirement of knowledge production; but also engages the participants as knowledge producers who; through the research process; are enabled to shift towards taking up their own agency. Reflecting on the findings from the various projects suggests that visual participatory methodologies are particularly useful when working with marginalized persons whose voices are seldom heard especially when exploring topics which are difficult to discuss. Furthermore; it brings issues to the fore and opens up debate; while at the same time democratizing research and allowing universities to take up their social responsibility and to contribute towards making a difference in the communities they serve

Translating Research into Policy: The case of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in South Africa

Policies are often developed without taking into account social science research findings and recommendations; despite the plethora of such research studies. This is largely because researchers and policy makers often work in isolation; yet if they worked synergistically they could have a significant impact on implementing interventions known to work to improve the lives of populations. Several approaches have been advanced to encourage policy makers to take heed of scientific findings and to urge scientists to take into account the needs of policy makers in designing their research agenda.This paper aims to illustrate how policy has been informed using the case study of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children project in South Africa. It further highlights the successes and challenges encountered thus far with this project. In some countries; particularly those of the north; there has been major progress in bridging this gap between research and policy; however; in developing countries much remains to be done

"Colloque international ""Sciences sociales et SIDA en Afrique : bilan et perspectives""; Saly Portudal; Senegal (4-8 novembre 1996)."

Ce colloque organise par CODESRIA et l'ORSTOM en collaboration avec le CNLS du Senegal; a rassemble les chercheurs africains et les associations de personnes vivant avec le SIDA. Les discussions ont porte sur les themes suivants : de l'epidemie a ses implications et a ses constructions sociales; culturelles et politiques ; modele et projections en temps de SIDA : methodes et enjeux ideologiques ; pratiques sociales; situations de vie; vulnerabilites : questions a la prevention ; diversite des prises en charge du SIDA : acteurs; institutions ; SIDA; la medecine et les sciences sociales : legitimations scientifiques et problemes ethiques. Les communications retenues sont disponibles en 2 vol. (anglais; francais selon la langue des participants accompagnees d'un index des noms d'auteurs)

Sante et environnement urbain

Le phenomene d'urbanisation est d'autant plus marquant en Afrique Noire que le continent; depuis le temps lointain des villes des routes transahariennes et du Ghana; etait reste a l'ecart du processus d'urbanisation que connaissaient l'Europe et dans une moindre mesure l'Amerique et l'Asie. Le passage en quelques decennies de villes moyennes a des villes millionnaires pose des problemes aigus de sante publique. Or; Une recherche sur les relations entre urbanisation et sante en Afrique Noire requiert le concours de specialistes tant des sciences sociales que des sciences biomedicales. Cet article presente succintement quelques traits specifiques des problemes de sante dans des villes d'Afrique Noire

Report of meeting on socio-behavioural research on HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe

UNICEF; together with NACP; Blair Research Institute; Zimbabwe Public Health Association and University of Zimbabwe were involved in the planning of the workshop. The aim of the workshop was to exchange experiences; exchange plans; identify gaps/needs; recommend a mechanism to give direction to future socio-behavioural research in Zimbabwe and to discuss how results can be implementated