Local Women, Global Science: Fighting AIDS in Kenya

There is evidence that women who live in societies that uphold male privilege--the majority of the world's women--are at increased risk for HIV infection. In Local Women, Global Science, Karen M. Booth looks closely at the operation of two clinics for sexually transmitted diseases in Nairobi, Kenya, and explores how internationally funded and nationally sanctioned interventions to stop the spread of HIV have focused almost exclusively on the sexual and reproductive behaviors of those who are least able to challenge male power and dominance--working-class and poor women. Moving past the current politics of development, women's health, and AIDS prevention, Booth's work enhances our understanding of how globalized and local networks, power relationships, ideologies, and social practices contribute to the current AIDS crisis. This bold and important book reveals conceptual flaws in AIDS prevention policy and will inspire new ideas for dealing with this deadly epidemic in Kenya, Africa, and beyond.

Karen M. Booth is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments

Note on Terminology

1. Global Medicine, Local Sex, and Crisis

2. Nairobi's Casino: Colonizing AIDS in the Urban Clinic

3. Negotiating AIDS Policy in Kenya, 1984-1994

4. "High-Frequency Transmitters" and Invisible Men

5. "A Husband Can Have a Thousand Girlfriends!"

6. Drugs for Whom? "African AIDS" in the Second Decade

Notes

Works Cited

Index