“New Mutualism” in Small (and Micro) States: The AIDS Generation and AIDS Fatigue in the Caribbean Educational Policy Space

This chapter is an exploratory piece to comprehend how national policies react to regional policy solutions designed to cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It uses data from the national strategic plans for HIV/AIDS from 13 of 15 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) members to illustrate how they interpret the regional response to the pandemic. In drawing upon the existing literature on transfer, it focuses on what I term cooperative policy transfer – explore how policy concepts flow back and forth between the national and regional levels through cohesive harmonization – to understand how new policy trends emerge. A cross-sectional analysis based on a content analysis reveals the emergence of three new policy trends distinct to the region that guide HIV/AIDS education: (i) creating a multisectoral approach; (ii) setting international targets; and (iii) establishing regional benchmarks. These new trends are identified as what I call the rise of new mutualism in education. The chapter concludes that the national and regional policy responses to HIV/AIDS in CARICOM countries, centered on new mutualism, became a rallying cry based on the belief that the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) can only function if CARICOM countries combine their resources to reverse the effect of HIV/AIDS on national educational systems.