In State-Sponsored Activism, Rich explores AIDS policy in Brazil as a lens to offer new insight into state-society relations in democratic and post-neoliberal Latin America. In contrast to the dominant view that these dual transitions produced an atomized civil society and an impenetrable technocratic state, Rich finds a new model of interest politics, driven by previously marginalized state and societal actors. Through a rich examination of the Brazilian AIDS movement, one of the most influential movements in twenty-first century Latin America, this book traces the construction of a powerful new advocacy coalition between activist bureaucrats and bureaucratized activists. In so doing, State-Sponsored Activism illustrates a model whereby corporatism - active government involvement in civic mobilization - has persisted in contemporary Latin America, with important implications for representation and policymaking.

‘Jessica Rich breaks new ground in the study of the conditions under which social movements can endure and work with state institutions to advance their policy goals. Her study of the interaction between AIDS activists and bureaucrats in Brazil challenges much of the conventional wisdom about the political impact of social movements and their relations to the state. This is a rare book that promises to change the way scholars think about state-civil society relations and the politics of social policy reform.'

Kenneth M. Roberts - Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government, Cornell University, New York

‘This book sets a new agenda for scholars of social movements, interest representation, policy-making, and public health​. Contrary to popular notion that corporatism is a relic of the past, Jessica Ri​​ch argues that state actors in the twenty-first century remain deeply involved in shaping and subsidizing groups in civil society. Her innovative contribution to theories of state-society relations is embedded in a revealing analysis of Brazil's stunning policy success - addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.'

David Collier - Chancellor's Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley