^aDepartment of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK. E-mail: M.H.Seckinelgin@lse.ac.uk

Abstract

This article argues that the language of international policy frameworks has an important impact on the people who are targeted by these policies. The question of whether definitions have any impact on action is examined. To respond to this question, the article analyses an example of international language: civil society as it is employed by international actors when dealing with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) problems in sub-Saharan Africa. A theoretical framework is developed and applied to understand two sets of institutional definitions of civil society used in engaging with HIV/AIDS. The implications of these definitions are then juxtaposed with how people identify themselves in relation to such definitions in the field of policy implementation. The article provides a useful theoretical framework based on language that links international policy and people in the area of policy implementation.