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February 6, 2012
Munk School of Global Affairs
Development Seminar Series
Speaker: Deborah Johnston, Department of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Date: Monday, February 13, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Sidney Smith Hall, Room 2135 (100 St. George Street)
The epidemiological approach to HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa focuses predominantly on changing individual behaviour. The logical extension of this concept of individual ‘choice’ over HIV risk has been the payment of cash transfers to encourage safe sex in Tanzania. This approach has been bolstered by the application of microeconomic methodology to the issue of HIV transmission, which have become increasingly fashionable. While the microeconomic focus on individual behaviour has strong resonance with the dominant public health approach, it is clear that microeconomic arguments have had more influence due their apparent ability to explain the patterns emerging from new datasets on HIV/AIDS. However, these microeconomic models are not always good predictors of the empirical record, and more than that, the way that individual choice is approached in such models is highly problematic. ‘Choice’ as understood by mainstream economists is likely to bear little reality to the sexual decision-making of many adults in areas affected by HIV/AIDS. Instead, this paper argues that sexual behaviour can only be understood in terms of the structural economic and social context. By abandoning the narrow focus and flawed methodology of microeconomic models, a wider and more helpful consideration of the factors that determine HIV risk in any one place can be developed.
Co-Sponsored by Center for International Studies, Intersections Seminar, Department of Geography, Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology, Department of Anthropology
This event is free and open to the public.