COMMUNICATION NEGOTIATIONS AMONG CIVIL SOCIETIES FOR HIV AND AIDS IN INDIA - A CULTURE-CENTERED APPROACH

Abstract

With neoliberal transformation of health landscape, health is primarily conceptualized as a private and individual responsibility better achieved through technological advancement and public-private partnership. This study investigates the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in implementing the national HIV and AIDS program designed by National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) in the state of Nagaland, India and interrogates the ways in which NGOs and NGO workers interpret and negotiate neoliberalism while working with the margins. This study examines the meanings of HIV that are circulated by the NGOs in the discursive space while exploring the socio-cultural context in which the NGOs function and implement this program. Finally, this study investigates the challenges faced by the NGOs while serving the donor agency, NACO and its clients, the various marginalized communities. This project particularly looks at how NGOs as mediating spaces negotiate the state, private sector, and the margins.