Limit search to available items
Book Cover
Book
Author Pentecost, Michelle, 1984- author

Title The politics of potential : global health and gendered futures in South Africa / Michelle Pentecost
Published New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press, [2024]

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  362.19820096873 Pen/Pop  AVAILABLE
Description xii, 190 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Series Medical anthropology. Health, inequality, and social justice
Contents The first 1000 days : origin stories -- Situated biologies : the view from Khayelitsha -- The traveling technology of mother and child -- Life between protocols -- Intergenerational transmissions : the Work of Time -- Ambivalent kin : on gender and violence -- Conclusion : the politics of potential
Summary The first 1000 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 1000 days of life in South Africa, drawing on fieldwork from international conferences, government offices, healthcare 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 1000 days concept and its effects on clinical care and the lives of childbearing women in South Africa. Why was The First 1000 Days project so readily adopted by South Africa and so 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 1000 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 ring-fenced in powerfully gendered and racialized ways"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Maternal health services -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Case studies
Child health services -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Case studies
Maternal and infant welfare -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Case studies
Medical policy -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Case studies
SUBJECT Western Cape (South Africa) -- Social conditions -- Case studies
Western Cape (South Africa) -- Social policy -- Case studies
LC no. 2023018411
ISBN 9781978837485 (hardback)
1978837488
9781978837478 (paperback)
197883747X
(epub)
(pdf)