The development of a counter-epistemic community: AIDS, South Africa, and international regimes

With over 20 percent of its adult population HIV-positive, one would expect South Africa to actively participate in, if not take a leading role, an international regime specifically dedicated to controlling the disease. Instead, not only has South Africa not taken an active role, but it has openly questioned the regime's basic tenets. Current theories of international regimes cannot explain this because they place too much emphasis on coercion, assume that the South African gavemment has no rational interest in combating AIDS, or fail to specify how regimes facilitate the transmission of shared knowledge.; I present a new approach to explain how regimes operate and why states participate. The integrative approach to international regimes emphasizes the importance of shared knowledge and identities, but extends it by emphasizing the role of the regime as providing a moral framework. It also places special emphasis on the importance of the history and identity of both member-states and the regime itself. Finally, the integrative approach to international regimes provides a mechanism through which issues like identity and history can impact a regime---the counter-epistemic community.; I use the international AIDS control regime and the South African government to demonstrate how the integrative approach to international regimes provides a better analytical framework. The history of the international AIDS control regime shows a marked inability to devote the attention and resources that the regime itself publicly admits are necessary to combat the disease, and its identity commitments have often clashed with those of potential member-states by failing to understand the disease in the proper local context. On the other hand, South Africa has had significant negative past experiences with public health interventions, and the government has publicly stated its desire to foster a new national identity inspired by the ideals of the African Renaissance.; As a result, the South African government has developed a counter-epistemic community of scientists and experts which translates its history and identity into a credible challenge to the regime. Through this counter-epistemic community, the South African government possesses the resources necessary to counter the international AIDS control regime.