Description
Book SynopsisThis illuminating study explores the social and cultural history of Brazilian family health and welfare policiesparticularly the effect of the reform-minded maternalist movement on impoverished women and children and on the uneven integration of Afro-Bra
Trade ReviewOtovo stands apart in the ambitious scope of her volume, anchored by a brilliant theoretical framing of shifts across time…an impressive and beautifully written study; I look forward to reading Otovo's work for years to come. * Bulletin of the History of Medicine *
For those seeking to put a human experience and face to the often top-down institutional histories of public health, this book will be essential reading. * Hispanic American Historical Review *
An insightful study of the intersections of public health, politics, race, and gender in Brazil from 1850 to 1945. * Luso-Brazilian Review *
In addition to its substantial historical contributions,
Progressive Mothers, Better Babies reminds us that the national level is but one possible level of analysis in scholarly research. This journal's readers…will find much to like in a book that uncovers the consequence and novelty of a specific region in the history of maternalism, and that opens up the possibility of making comparisons between different Afro-American health worlds. * Journal of Latin American Studies *
Otovo provides a meticulous historical account of the development of maternal and child care in Bahia…The rigorous and detailed historical research, personalised cases and engaging writing style make this book an excellent resource for scholars of history, maternity and infancy in Brazil. * Bulletin of Latin American Research *
The narrative [of
Progressive Mothers, Better Babies] deals comfortably with ambiguity, avoiding the precise cuts that most of the time might exist in theoretical frameworks of analysis, but are scarce in real social and individual life. I see in Otovo's book another significant achievement:
Progressive Mothers, Better Babies is not merely a history of discourses about maternalism but a history that delves into the tensions between medical discourses, clinical practices, and women's experiences. * Latin American Research Review *
Progressive Mothers, Better Babies spans a century of institutionalizing maternal welfare in the northeastern region of Bahia, from the waning years of the independent empire (and not coincidentally, the institution of slavery) in 1850 through the transitional period of the First Republic (1889–1930), and culminates in the modern welfare state established during the presidency of Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945)...By putting the politics of Black women's reproductive labor at the center of the history, Otovo argues that a longer tradition of Bahian maternalist welfare institutions designed to reform the (predominantly Black) poor mothers' early childcare practices actually preceded and informed similar institutions of the modern nation-state that Vargas would celebrate as cornerstones of his populist platform. * Journal of Women's History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Abbreviations
Note on Orthography and Currency
Introduction
Chapter 1. Persistence and Change: The "Mulata Velha"
Chapter 2. Domestic Health Care: The Mãe Preta
Chapter 3. Motherhood as Science: The Curiosa
Chapter 4. Foundling Care and Family Welfare: The Mãe Desnaturada
Chapter 5. Bahia’s Estado Novo: The Pai dos Pobres
Conclusion
A Suggestive Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
