Mainstream Mexican views of indigenous women center on them as
problematic mothers, and development programs have included the
goal of helping these women become "good mothers." Economic
incentives and conditional cash transfers are the vehicles for
achieving this goal. With ethnographic immediacy, "Shaping the
Motherhood of Indigenous Mexico" examines the dynamics among the
various players--indigenous mothers, clinicians, and
representatives of development programs. The women's voices lead
the reader to understand the structures of dependency that
paradoxically bind indigenous women within a program that calls for
their empowerment.
The cash transfer program is "Oportunidades," which enrolls more
than a fifth of Mexico's population. It expects mothers to become
involved in their children's lives at three nodes--health,
nutrition, and education. If women do not comply with the standards
of modern motherhood, they are dropped from the program and lose
the bi-monthly cash payments. Smith-Oka explores the everyday
implementation of the program and its unintended consequences.
The mothers are often berated by clinicians for having too many
children (Smith-Oka provides background on the history of eugenics
and population control in Mexico) and for other examples of their
"backward" ways. An entire chapter focuses on the humor indigenous
women use to cope with disrespectful comments. Ironically, this
form of resistance allows the women to accept the situation that
controls their behavior.
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