ABSTRACT
In this chapter I look at this issue of language: why should language be an issue or even a problem? To answer this requires analysing the role of international actors. Typically, the main research on HIV/AIDS and international policies focuses on tools and policies that are seen as important for dealing with the problem. In this, international actors are considered to be normal agents of aid and resource, and their impact on the lives of people is considered only in terms of their help in mitigating the problems. The possible transformative impact of international actors in relation to people’s perspectives on both their lives and the disease is not considered.1 Here I argue that international actors have an important impact. The impact is evident not only
in the distribution of aid or provision of policy tools, such as condoms or abstinence messages, but also in the way people learn to represent themselves in order to be able to benefit from international resources.2 In other words international actors are much more than just outside help because the perspective of these policy makers feeds into that of those on the ground and influences their actions. Their role in engaging with HIV/AIDS and people’s needs should be analysed beyond their typically assumed status as decontextualised international actors. They have to be seen as actors influencing the contexts with which they are linked through policy processes.
