BETWEEN BEDROOMS AND BALLOTS: THE POLITICS OF HIV'S ...

which are positive. Some ‘brokers,’ or those who work in the space between the state, donors
and the grassroots associations, are often captured and thus do not work independently. Others
are said to be able to pay their way into lucrative contracts. Yet we stand to learn a great deal
about democracy and decentralization of the public sector from a health issue that has forced the
rapid scaling up of formal institutions in marginalized areas: how are linkages and relationships
between the associations and government bodies affecting policy-making and governance?
Which internal associational tactics are most successful at recruiting new volunteers, and how, if
at all, does AIDS help the learning and practice of civic activity? What does the dance of the
actors entail for a new African democracy, particularly given distinctions that can occur when
associational life takes on the role as antagonist, lobbyist, or client to various patrons in an aid
soaked atmosphere? What occurs when reciprocity--the linchpin of African society and politics-
-and short-term vision induced by poverty meet up in the sexual act only to discover the severity
of certain repercussions? (Or is HIV infection preferable to other, more severe, repercussions?)
A third argument within these chapters is that the high infection rates are a product of the
historical trajectory of African societies, particularly concerning the desire for adherents and rule
over people. This intertwines with political society, in which the suspicion between state and
society and the reliance on the primordial realm in order to poach resources for one’s own gain
have been salient and still currently occur in varying degrees within the AIDS domain. As is
evidenced in this research, this leads to both positive and negative aspects: they are positive in
the sense that associations build upon the informal associational life concerning self-help in poor
communities, that volunteers are learning civic skills that carry over into other aspects of their
lives (including overtly political activity), and that if we think of a continuum of civic-ness that
ranges from non-mobilizers (those who do not volunteer with associations and who have low
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