In the second essay in A Future for Africa Emmanuel Katongole searches for a theological perspective on the AIDS crisis in Africa that moves beyond the usual polarization of the debate between ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ positions. The problem is that both camps ‘share the same narrow view of ethics as primarily a prescriptive discipline’ and fail to consider the ‘narrative’ context that constrains the options available. Ethics must be narrative, he believes, ‘not just in the plain sense of telling stories, but in the critical sense of offering interpretive frameworks and descriptions that help us to understand and critically assess the sort of people we are becoming as we live with and try to negotiate the challenges we face’ (30). But the AIDS pandemic also highlights the acute need beyond description to ‘provide alternative symbols, images, and practices to those currently available’.