AWAKENING TO A NEED: MOBILIZATION IN RESPONSE TO THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

HIV/AIDS has predominantly been framed in a language of stigma and focuses on behavior, morality, responsibility and exclusion. The problem with this frame is its biasness towards protecting the uninfected while neglecting the needs of those already infected with the disease. In many countries, this has resulted in activism in the form of street protests or political lobbying for the rights and equality of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). In Singapore, several social change organizations (SCOs) have also emerged in reaction to the need for an alternative framing of HIV/AIDS - one that addresses both the importance of HIV prevention and social support for PLWHA. In using the social movement literature as a theoretical framework, this study acknowledges that the concept of a social movement does not seem to apply in the local context due to the concept's Ameri-centric or Euro-centric roots. This study contends that social movements do exist outside the West, but are manifested in more covert forms than their Western counterparts. By examining the way individuals are mobilized, the establishment of SCOs in response to the lack of state HIV/AIDS interventions and inter-organizational relationships, this study demonstrates the beginnings of a HIV/AIDS social movement in Singapore.