Securitising HIV/AIDS in Tajikistan: Framings, Policies and Practices

Abstract

Building on previous work on the securitisation of HIV/AIDS, studies of framings, and the Copenhagen and Paris schools of security studies, this essay explores how policy framings of HIV/AIDS have shifted from the late Soviet period through to present-day Tajikistan. Pointing to both continuity and change, it shows how, under the influence of international actors and in accordance with nation-building priorities, Soviet-era medical and societal security framings gradually transformed into state security, demography and family-oriented framings. It also examines the resulting policy responses and practices that influence the everyday life of social groups who become identified as a public health concern.