AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame

Abstract

Diligence and a strong sense of mission have shaped how Paul Farmer, a well-published anthropologist physician, undertook the study of Do Kay, a small Haitian village struck by the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). His method of research goes beyond his being the participant observer who conducted interviews and recorded what he saw and heard over a period of almost a decade. Farmer evidently identified with the Do Kay community, winning the confidence of its people, becoming the trusted recipient of their intimate insights and disclosures. Casual discussions, rumors, complaints, spontaneous reactions to radio and TV broadcasts, political and religious opinions are all ably assimilated and interwoven into the narrative. Thus this work supersedes the limitations normally attached to the rigors of scientific objectivity. Even if this approach departs somewhat from the conventions of traditional anthropology and closes the door on the likelihood of its ever being replicated, the work is