The TAC's ‘Intellectual Campaign’ (2000–2004): Social Movements and Epistemic Communities

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion of the manner in which the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) campaigned to counter a range of unorthodox Aids views that were advanced by the South African government. The author discusses how this organisation endeavoured to defend and consolidate the biomedical science of HIV from a series of institutionalised political attacks by making use of an epistemic community in its strategy. Describing this endeavour as the TAC's ‘intellectual campaign’, the author argues that this specific form of political participation differs conceptually and empirically from the civil actions usually witnessed in the streets and in the courtrooms. This particular strategy ultimately added to the TAC's social movement plan of action and contributed significantly to its success in pressuring the government to reform its litigious HIV/Aids policy.

Notes

1. See, for example, Achmat (2004); TAC (2002, 2004); Pretoria News (2000); Business Day (2004a); Natal Witness (2001a).

2. The South African Aids activist movement was led primarily by the TAC with the assistance of various organisations including amongst others the Children's Rights Centre, the Aids Consortium, the South African Non Governmental Organisation Coalition (Sangoco), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa), the Aids Law Project and health practitioners. Other international organisations such as the Australian Foundation of Aids, Aids Coalition to unleash Power (Act-Up), the European Coalition of Positive People, Health Gap Coalition, Oxfam and Doctors without Borders (Medicins sans Frontieres) also rallied in support of the TAC. Along with Cosatu, Sangoco and Fedusa, the TAC's ability to mobilise thousands of people thus depended very heavily on the close support of many influential civil society organisations (Mothapo, 2004; Vlok, 2000).

3. CD4 or T-lymphocytes are cells which enable the body to mobilise the immune system against invading pathogens, such as HIV. The count of 200 indicates the number of T helper cells in each cubic millimetre of blood, and is the recommended medical guideline for the commencement of anti-HIV therapy.

4. In an attempt to explain why his views made such an impact, Robins (2004, p. 7) has suggested that Mbeki was part of a small but powerful ‘inner circle’ that possessed the capacity to influence important Aids policy decisions. Along with Thabo Mbeki, this inner circle included the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang; Parks Mankahlana, former Head of Communications in the Presidency; Sibongile Manana, Health MEC of Mpumalanga; Government Spokesperson, Joel Netshitenzhe, amongst others. This internal faction gained further leverage in an increasingly restructured political administration: while HIV/Aids was initially understood to necessitate a cross-sectoral approach, it ended up being ‘concentrated in the department of health and the treasury, and later in the presidency, rather than the cabinet’ (Butler, 2005, p. 600).

5. These ‘dissident’ scientists were Peter Duesberg, Joseph Sonnabend, David Rasnick, Robert Giraldo, Eleni Papadopoulos-Eleopoulos, Robert Root-Bernstein and Sam Mhlongo.

6. By this time it was scientifically accepted that a retrovirus called Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was responsible for destroying the cells (called T-lymphocytes) that assisted the immune system in combating invading pathogenic organisms—resulting ultimately in the presentation of a variety of physical symptoms referred to under the term Auto-Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids).

7. Joseph Sonnabend, Bryan Ellison, Robert Root-Bernstein, John Lauritsen and Peter Duesberg were some of the key scientists during this period.

8. Youde (2005, p. 1) argues that by including these scientists within in his Presidential Aids panel, Mbeki ‘actively encouraged the formation of a counter epistemic community’.

9. In the United States, HIV/Aids was first thought to be a gay disease—called by the acronym GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency)—because most of the earliest reported cases were contained within that population group (increasing cases of the disease would also appear in three other groups at the time: intravenous drug users, haemophiliacs and Haitians). Gay activists did much to contest this discriminatory labelling of the disease and in 1982 GRID was subsequently renamed to read Aids.

10. In this respect, the TAC devoted a substantial part of its resources to building up an awareness of HIV/Aids issues while explaining these ‘clearly and rationally in layman's terms to the public’ (personal communication with Mbali,15 21 April 2004). One way of achieving this awareness was to disseminate information about the science of HIV and ARV treatment through a variety of mediums, the most notable being the print and electronic media. The TAC's webpage (www.tac.org), for example, contains content on and references to recent and established Aids treatment research, as well as links to other sites which outlined the structural biology of HIV, the evidence that HIV causes Aids, and published research on the efficacy and advancements of ARV medications. The organisation also ensures that it distributes fact sheets, posters and booklets on a range of Aids-related issues explaining how to live with the disease, how ARVs work, the role of good nutrition, and the importance of sexual health.

11. A. Devenish, TAC member and researcher at the School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

12. Z. Achmat, Chairmen and founder of the TAC, Johannesburg, South Africa.

13. X. Kunene, TAC provincial organiser, Durban, South Africa.

14. During the Aids debate, the TAC typically dealt with variations of ‘dissident’ views in this way. For example, the recognised South African writer Riaan Malan was described as a ‘sophisticated denialist’ after publishing two articles in which the reliability of Aids mortality figures in South Africa were questioned (see, for example, Malan, 2003a, 2003b). According to Geffen (2004b), a ‘sophisticated denialist’ is someone who questions whether there is an Aids epidemic, and can be differentiated from other (less sophisticated?) denialists who question the link between HIV and Aids. With regard to the subject of reliable Aids statistics, the sociologist Susan Zeihl has been called a ‘crypto-denialist’ (personal communication with Achmat, 7 July 2004) because of her alleged attempts to conceal her identity as a denialist (in questioning the extent of the Aids epidemic on an academic level).

15. M. Mbali, TAC member and research fellow at the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alain Vandormael

* Department of Sociology, University of Pretoria, Lynwood Street, 001, Pretoria, South Africa. Email: [email protected]