I integrate economic, behavioral, and social support perspectives to provide a theoretical account of the HIV/AIDS experience in India. Given the complex nuances of the current appearance of the infection in the nation, no one particular theoretical interpretation might suffice to provide a holistic comprehension of the AIDS situation in the nation. The conflict perspective highlights class effects and poverty in explaining the spread of the infection. The behavioral framework, although allied to the Marxian postulate, moves beyond economic determinism and explains the spread of the infection among other marginal social groups (India's hijra population or men who have sex with men). The social support model outlines social attitudes towards the marginalized which impedes with health intervention, risk assessment or disclosure of health status. Each theoretical tradition provides a cognitive link and is intertwined. In speculating how agency can emerge in the middle of social obstacles, I will discuss how Marxian notions of class consciousness, Goffman's idea of the stigmatized educating the nonstigmatized and Bourdieu's concept of social capital correspond with the preliminary, coalescence and institutional stages of a collective movement raising consciousness about HIV and AIDS in a developing context. (C) 2017 by The Transformative Studies Institute. All rights reserved.