Witches, Westerners, and HIV

'Witches, Westerners, and HIV is a remarkable and highly readable book. In this extraordinarily important volume, Rodlach takes us on an eye-opening journey to the Zimbabwean world of sorcery and conspiracy theories, influencing African AIDS thought and action. What Paul Farmer did for our understanding of witchcraft accusations in Haiti, Rodlach achieves this for AIDS-related sorcery and conspiracy in Africa. [The book] will force HIV program planners in Africa to dramatically rethink the role of local ideas about sorcery and conspiracy in their AIDS campaigns.' Douglas Feldman, SUNY Brockport 'Rodlach documents in rich ethnographic detail sorcery and conspiracy theories that abound in Africa and beyond, convincingly arguing that indigenous logic can powerfully influence people's responses to the AIDS epidemic and render conventional approaches for preventing HIV infection ineffective. His findings urge those working in the field of AIDS awareness, prevention, and care to understand better the local perceptions of the epidemic as well as indigenous ethical and moral codes in order to develop culturally meaningful and therefore effective prevention strategies.' Edward Green, Harvard School of Public Health 'Rodlach's book is rich and provocative. It would be quite useful in graduate courses that focus on HIV/AIDS or international health.' Medical Anthropology 'The depth of research presented in this book makes it interesting not only to scholars working on Zimbabwe or the greater southern African region, but also to historians and anthropologists of medicine. The clarity with which the book articulates effective fieldwork methodologies and the creativity it exhibits in bringing together the typically discrete issues of sorcery and conspiracy theory render it useful to anthropologists and historians working outside of African Studies as well...Of special interest to other researchers working on supernatural and/or other \'unseen\' situations is the discussion of the particular challenges of investigating and developing data sets about phenomena that are often invisible and necessarily illusive...The last chapter...is especially cogent, making a case for how ethnographic strategies such as active listening and participant-observation can be mobilized to produce useable knowledge for more effective medical interventions into the epidemic.' Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft