ABSTRACT
The ‘global governance’ literature emphasises the de-centralised character of contemporary global political processes. Global health governance is a case in point, as it appears as an extremely complex phenomenon. The case of international development cooperation on Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome work between donors and civil society organisations in sub-Saharan Africa has a more general relevance in several respects. In the 2000s, international development cooperation on health policy has increasingly focused on strategies for governing populations at a distance through civil society. An overall effect of marketisation is thus a commodification of civil society, affecting and reshaping the social relations between, and the capacities and subjectivities of, organisations, communities, and individuals. Scientisation refers to the introduction of regulations and techniques that support management methods based on scientific claims. Standardisation refers to the introduction of regulations and techniques to support the introduction of certain standardised methods of organisation, involving a formalisation to make categories compatible and facilitate measurability.
