Faith in the Time of AIDS: Religion, Biopolitics and Modernity in South Africa

228 Pages·2015·1.457 MB·English

by  Marian Burchardt (auth.)

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Titlesinclude:
BarbaraBompaniandMariaFrahm-Arp(editors)
DEVELOPMENTANDPOLITICSFROMBELOW
ExploringReligiousSpacesintheAfricanState
MarianBurchardt
FAITHINTHETIMEOFAIDS
Religion,BiopoliticsandModernityinSouthAfrica
AnaCeciliaDinerstein
THEPOLITICSOFAUTONOMYINLATINAMERICA
TheArtofOrganisingHope
BrianDohertyandTimothyDoyle
ENVIRONMENTALISM,RESISTANCEANDSOLIDARITY
ThePoliticsofFriendsoftheEarthInternational
DenaFreeman(editor)
PENTECOSTALISMANDDEVELOPMENT
Churches,NGOsandSocialChangeinAfrica
DavidHerbert
CREATINGCOMMUNITYCOHESION
Religion,MediaandMulticulturalism
JudeHowell(editor)
GLOBALMATTERSFORNON-GOVERNMENTALPUBLICACTION
JudeHowell(editor)
NON-GOVERNMENTALPUBLICACTIONANDSOCIALJUSTICE
JudeHowellandJeremyLind
COUNTER-TERRORISM,AIDANDCIVILSOCIETY
BeforeandAftertheWaronTerror
JennyPearce(editor)
PARTICIPATIONANDDEMOCRACYINTHETWENTY-FIRSTCENTURY
TimPringleandSimonClarke
THECHALLENGEOFTRANSITION
TradeUnionsinRussia,ChinaandVietnam
DianeStone
KNOWLEDGEACTORSANDTRANSNATIONALGOVERNANCE
ThePrivate–PublicPolicyNexusintheGlobalAgora
ChrisvanderBorghandCrolijnTerwindt
NGOSUNDERPRESSUREINPARTIALDEMOCRACIES
AndrewWells-Dang
CIVILSOCIETYNETWORKSINCHINAANDVIETNAM
InformalPathbreakersinHealthandtheEnvironment
ThomasYarrow
DEVELOPMENTBEYONDPOLITICS
Aid,ActivismandNGOsinGhana
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Faith in the Time of AIDS
Religion, Biopolitics and Modernity in
South Africa
Marian Burchardt
ResearchFellow,MaxPlanckInstitutefortheStudyofReligiousandEthnic
Diversity,Germany
©MarianBurchardt2015
Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis
publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission.
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Burchardt,Marian.
FaithinthetimeofAIDS:religion,biopolitics,andmodernityinSouth
Africa/MarianBurchardt,Researcher,MaxPlanckInstitutefortheStudy
ofReligiousandEthnicDiversity,Germany.
pages cm.—(Non-governmentalpublicaction)
1. SouthAfrica—Churchhistory—20thcentury. 2. SouthAfrica—
Churchhistory—21stcentury. 3. AIDS(Disease)—Religiousaspects—
Christianity. 4. HIVinfections—Religiousaspects—Christianity.
5. AIDS(Disease)—SouthAfrica. 6. HIVinfections—SouthAfrica.
I. Title.
BR1450.B872015
261.8(cid:2)32196979200968—dc23 2015015178
To my parents Sabine and Günter

Contents
ListofFigures viii
Acknowledgments ix
ListofAbbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 HIV/AIDSandChristianEngagementsinAfrica:Toward
aCulturalSociologyofSocialTechnologies 22
2 TheGlobalandtheLocal:TransnationalConnectionsand
theRiseofFaith-BasedOrganizations 45
3 AMoralScienceofSex 74
4 HavingSex,MakingLove 98
5 BiographicalBecoming:LifeProjects 124
6 HelpingThemselves:ReligiousAIDSActivisminSupport
Groups 156
Conclusions:Christianity,SocialChangeandModernityin
SouthAfrica 179
Notes 190
References 199
Index 213
vii
Figures
I.1 ViewoverKhayelitsha 2
I.2 InformalsettlementinKhayelitsha 3
1.1 Bannerofananti-stigmatizationcampaignofMelisizwe’s
supportgroup 28
3.1 Facilitator,youthandvisitorsatasexualeducation
workshopinKhayelitsha 76
5.1 Outreachcampaignoffaith-basedactivistsintheEastern
Capeprovince 125
6.1 EvangelicalbillboardcampaigninKhayelitsha 167
6.2 FuneralofafamilymemberofMelisizwewhohaddied
fromHIV/AIDS 170
C.1 Agroupoftraditionalhealersreturninghomeaftera
funeralataMethodistChurch 183
viii
Acknowledgments
Thisbookistheresultofethnographicengagementswithissuesaround
religion,urbancivilsocietyandHIV/AIDSinSouthAfrica,whichbegan
with my PhD research in 2005 and continued through other projects
on religion and South African modernity. First and foremost, I wish to
thank those who are at the center of the book: the HIV/AIDS activists
fromCapeTownwhobelieveinthepowerofengagementandcompas-
sion and some of whom passed away but who will never be forgotten.
Especially,IamindebtedtoMonwabisiMagqokiandNokubongaYawa
fortheirwarmheartedsupport.
Financiallyandlogistically,theresearchprojectwasgenerouslyspon-
sored by Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst where I was a member of
the research group “Power, Morality, and Religion”, the DFG research
traininggroup“CriticalJuncturesofGlobalization”attheUniversityof
Leipzig, the Irmgard Coninx Foundation at the WZB Berlin Social Sci-
enceCenterandtheMaxPlanckInstitutefortheStudyofReligiousand
EthnicDiversityinGöttingen.
Many people supported this project throughout the years intel-
lectually and personally. I am greatly indebted to my supervisor
Monika Wohlrab-Sahr. From the very beginning, she encouraged and
supported my work. Steven Robins was of great help in finding
and navigating my way in the field; he also gave me the chance
to discuss my work on two occasions with colleagues at the Uni-
versity of Stellenbosch. I also wish to thank James Beckford, who
inspired my thinking about religion and social problems, for his readi-
ness to be the second reviewer. In the course of the project, the
International Research Network Religion, AIDS and Social Transfor-
mation in Africa (RASTA) became a veritable intellectual home for
me. For inspiring and critical conversations about this project at dif-
ferent moments during the last ten years, I wish to thank Ingo
Richter,SabineBerking,RobertThornton,AnnSwidler,SusanWatkins,
José Casanova, Matthias Koenig, John R. Meyer, Eileen Moyer, Rijk
van Dijk, Hansjörg Dilger, Vinh-Kim Nguyen, Josien de Klerk, Anita
Hardon, Dieter Neubert, Afe Adogame, Susan Whyte, Peter van der
Veer, Amy Patterson, Louise Mubanda Rasmussen, Deborah Bryce-
son, Catrine Shroff, Alessandro Gusman, Jack Tocco, Tony Simpson,
NadineBeckmann,UtaKarstein,ThomasSchmidt-Lux,SarahScheffold,
ix