A Plague of Paradoxes: AIDS, Culture, and Demography in Northern Tanzania (Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture) (Paperback)

by Philip W. Setel (Author) "This is a book about an epidemic and the cultural and demographic circumstances out of which it emerged..." (more)
Key Phrases: kihamba regime, urban disease model, kihamba zone, East Africa, Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Health (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Since recording its first AIDS cases in 1983, Tanzania has reported nearly 90,000 more to the World Health Organization—more than any other country in Africa. As AIDS spread, the devastating syndrome came to be known simply as ugonjwa huo: "that disease."

The AIDS epidemic has forced Africans to reflect upon the meaning of traditional ideas and practices related to sexuality and fertility, and upon modernity and biomedicine. In A Plague of Paradoxes, anthropologist Philip Setel observes Tanzania's Chagga people and their attempts to cope with and understand AIDS—the latest in a series of crises over which they feel they have little, if any, control.

Timely and well-researched, A Plague of Paradoxes is an extended case study of the most serious epidemic of the twentieth century and the cultural circumstances out of which it emerged. It is a unique book that brings together anthropology, demography, and epidemiology to explain how a particular community in Africa experiences AIDS.

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (February 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226748863
• ISBN-13: 978-0226748863
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #793,045 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Used to Develop New Communication Strategy for Tanzania, December 19, 2006

By	Winthrop Morgan "Social Marketing" (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Used this book to inform the development of a new HIV and AIDS Communication strategy for Tanzania. My colleagues were very impressed with the depth of cultural understanding.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the complexities of communicating about HIV and AIDS.