Witches, Westerners, and HIV

An absolute 'must-read' for any health care or other professionals seeking to learn lessons from tragic failures of the past and better understand how to be effective in African nations in general and Zimbabwe in particular. Highly recommended. -Midwest Book Review Rodlach bases his book on extensive knowledge and a deep understanding of Zimbabwe, its people, and its languages...Readers are introduced to explanations of a racist plot, the curse of witches, and a conspiracy by westerners, all expressed by locals attempting to unriddle this lethal disease of AIDS...Recommended. -CHOICE Magazine Rodlach's understanding of the field is definitely impressive... [He] puts forward a set of convincing arguments, weaving in the work of anthropologists as well as informants. The depth of his local knowledge is evident...the reader is left in no doubt that a western medical view of HIV/AIDS is simply inadequate to understand the incidence and management of this epidemic in Zimbabwe. ...The final chapter examines the applications for the AIDS crisis. It is full of useful and practical ideas about how to apply knowledge on cultures of blame to the management of AIDS. -Medical Sociology Online // This easy-to-read, scrupulously researched, and fascinating book addresses two critical, but stubborn problems which threaten to reduce the effectiveness of many externally funded HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs in Africa. -AIDS Research and Therapy // Witches, Westerners, and HIV is a remarkable and highly readable book. In this extraordinarily important volume, RAdlach 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, RAdlach 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's book is rich and provocative. It would be quite useful in graduate courses that focus on HIV/AIDS or international health. -Medical Anthropology Quarterly // 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 // ... This book should be read by those developing HIV/AIDS education and treatment programs in developing areas. It should be particularly useful for health care workers serving the poor and underserved in Africa and other developing areas. -Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved //