Global and National Entanglements
HIV/AIDS response in Mozambique, 1986-2020
Time: Mon 2025-10-06 13.00
Location: F3, Lindstedtvägen 26, Campus, public video conference
Video link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/69683020333
Language: English
Subject area: History of Science, Technology and Environment
Doctoral student: Araújo Domingos , Historiska studier av teknik, vetenskap och miljö, Instituto Superior de Arte e Cultura
Opponent: Professor Peter Sköld, Umeå University
Supervisor: Professor Nina Wormbs, Historiska studier av teknik, vetenskap och miljö; Associate Professor Urban Lundberg, Dalarna University; Assistant Professor Sandra Manuel, Eduardo Mondlane University
QC 20250911
Abstract
With a focus on Mozambique, this thesis aims at understanding the interaction between global and national actors in the HIV/AIDS response from the late 1980s to 2020. There are four specific case studies: the ways in which Notícias (a government newspaper) framed the HIV/AIDS response from the late 1980s to 2020; HIV/AIDS policies from the late 1980s to 2020; the participation of traditional healers in the HIV/AIDS response from the early 1990s to 2020; and the participation of civil society organisations in the HIV/AIDS response from the early 1990s to 2020.
There are three overarching research questions: 1) What has characterised the interaction between global and national actors in the HIV/AIDS response in the context of post-colonial Mozambique? 2) How do national actors operate in a system characterised by asymmetric power relations? 3) What are the social and political consequences of the participation of national, non-governmental actors in the HIV/AIDS response in the context of asymmetrical power relations?
I argue that the history of the HIV/AIDS response in Mozambique is characterised by permanent conflict or tension between global and national actors. In contrast to earlier studies, which focus on the role of external actors, the contribution of this thesis rests on the permanent conflict perspective between HIV/AIDS global and national actors, including Mozambique’s national context (political, socioeconomic, and cultural history).