The Politics of Potential : Global Health and Gendered Futures in South Africa / Michelle Pentecost.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pentecost, Michelle, 1984- author.

Series:

Medical Anthropology Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Maternal health services--South Africa--Western Cape--Case studies.

Maternal health services.

Child health services.

Maternal and infant welfare.

Western Cape (South Africa)--Social conditions--Case studies.

Western Cape (South Africa).

Western Cape (South Africa)--Social policy--Case studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2024]

Summary:

The first one thousand days of human life, or the period between conception and age two, is one of the most pivotal periods of human development. Optimizing nutrition during this time not only prevents childhood malnutrition but also determines future health and potential. The Politics of Potential examines early life interventions in the first one thousand days of life in South Africa, drawing on fieldwork from international conferences, government offices, health-care facilities, and the everyday lives of fifteen women and their families in Cape Town. Michelle Pentecost explores various aspects of a politics of potential, a term that underlines the first one thousand days concept and its effects on clinical care and the lives of childbearing women in South Africa. Why was the First One Thousand Days project so readily adopted by South Africa and many other countries? Pentecost not only explores this question but also discusses the science of intergenerational transmissions of health, disease, and human capital and how this constitutes new forms of intergenerational responsibility. The women who are the target of first one thousdand days interventions are cast as both vulnerable and responsible for the health of future generations, such that, despite its history, intergenerational responsibility in South Africa remains entrenched in powerfully gendered and racialized ways.

Contents:

Cover

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Foreword by Lenore Manderson

Introduction

1. The First 1,000 Days: Origin Stories

2. Situated Biologies: The View from Khayelitsha

3. The Traveling Technology of Mother and Child

4. Life between Protocols

5. Intergenerational Transmissions: The Work of Time

6. Ambivalent Kin: On Gender and Violence

Conclusion: The Politics of Potential

Acknowledgments

Notes

References

Index

Series List.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781978837508

197883750X

9781978837492

1978837496

OCLC:

1420252614