Unruly Domestication : Poverty, Family, and Statecraft in Urban Peru.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Skrabut, Kristin.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bureaucracy--Peru--Lima.

Bureaucracy.

Poor--Peru--Lima.

Poor.

Poverty--Government policy--Peru--Lima.

Poverty.

Poverty--Social aspects--Peru--Lima.

Single mothers--Peru--Lima--Social conditions.

Single mothers.

Squatter settlements--Social aspects--Peru--Lima.

Squatter settlements.

Squatters--Peru--Lima--Social conditions.

Squatters.

Peru--Lima.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (321 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2024.

Summary:

"In the first decade of the 21st century, Peru reduced its official poverty rate from 50% of the population to 20%. In the "extreme poverty zones" of Lima, though, most residents still consider themselves poor. This book argues that poverty is not an objective condition, but a context-specific "assemblage" and subjective experience that is critically connected to particular life stages and family forms. Despite Peru's efforts to deploy the accepted "best practices" for fighting poverty, the formalization of things like business licenses, property deeds, and household census categories actually perpetuate urban sprawl, deepen discrimination against single mothers, and undermine Peruvians' faith in public officials as well as one another. The introduction stakes out the geographical and theoretical territory of the book. Subsequent chapters are more ethnographic, getting into why residents of the shantytown where the author's research takes place believe poverty is everywhere--but also believe looks can be deceiving. She explores questions like, Is that woman really a single mother or is she living with another man who provides, making her less-deserving of aid even as she endures the stigma of being a single mother? There's a chapter about Mother's Clubs, and how they seek official recognition as social aid groups, despite the irony that the laborious bureaucracy of official recognition takes club members away from their families. A similar bureaucracy tries to identify poor children through their parents, further marginalizing single mothers. These mothers are usually seen as the most deserving of assistance, even as they are castigated for leaving their kids at home all day in order to work. A late chapter shows how shantytowns play a role in the poverty equation. Although these communities do not necessarily have official recognition, they can still provide a kind of safety net. As the author writes, "Plans change, relationships fall apart, and shantytown homes play an important role in Peruvians' efforts to pull things back together." A conclusion reflects on the long-term possibilities raised by the book's findings, which leads to an epilogue that reports on the people and programs featured in the book since the conclusion of the author's fieldwork"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introducing extreme lives

Part I. Concepts in situ. Poverty productions : measurement, mediation, and mistrust

Ambivalent developments : the entanglements of politics and kinship

Part II. Materialities of statecraft. Papering the margins

State identities

Part III. Unruly domestications. Domestic ideals, single moms, and elastic relations

Housing, kin, and landscapes of poverty

Conclusion. A different poverty story.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781477329122

1477329129

9781477329115

1477329110

OCLC:

1427665948