Third‐way neoliberalism and conditional cash transfers: The paradoxes of empowerment, participation and self‐help among poor Uruguayan women

Abstract

The Latin American literature on Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) welfare programs has typically involved the quantitative evaluation of social and economic impact, with fewer studies addressing the qualitative and gendered impacts of CCTs. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in poor squatter settlement communities in Uruguay, this article explores the everyday social realities of poor single mothers who have been disconnected from their kinship networks and must rely on CCT payments for survival. I locate these women's experiences within the third‐way neoliberal discourses of ‘empowerment’, ‘participation’ and ‘self‐help’ espoused by the state, and the various structural conditions, including crime, violence and unequal gender relations, that impact negatively on women's abilities to comply with their social and civic duties. I argue that rather than producing responsible and empowered subjects, Uruguay's recent CCT welfare program has paradoxically limited some women's participation in civic and public life and reproduced their dependent relations with men.

The impact of a conditional cash transfer programme on determinants of child health: evidence from Colombia

“…For example, the Mexican Oportunidades programme increased the number of growth-monitoring visits by 60 % in rural areas (11) and by 52 % in urban areas (5) , and CCT programmes in Colombia (12,13) and Honduras (14) have been shown to increase adherence to child immunization schemes, all of which may translate into improvements in health (15) . Despite the wide range of evidence on child health, the impact of CCT programmes on well-known 'determinants' of child health has been less well explored or evidence has been mixed or inconsistent (10,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) . In particular, it is not well established whether CCT influence only the use of health and education services associated with programme conditionalities, or whether CCT programmes have wider impacts on behaviours, attitudes and social factorsdeterminants that may contribute to better child health (7) .…”

“…CCT programmes may also influence mothers' employment decisions, and improve knowledge and awareness of caregiving practices. So far evidence of effects of CCT on these behaviours is mixed and inconsistent (10,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) . Familias en Accion ('Families in Action'; FA) is the CCT programme in Colombia and includes both a health and an educational component.…”

Strategies of conditional cash transfers and the tactics of resistance

“…Of particular scrutiny have been questions of women's empowerment (Corboz, 2013;Molyneux, 2007;Molyneux and Thompson, 2011) and education and child welfare (Hanlon et al, 2010;Hossain, 2010). While they provide crucial assistance to poor families, programs like PBF also aim to produce an ideal-type neoliberal citizen who is fiscally responsible, economically savvy, and capable of looking after their own welfare (c.f., Ferguson, 2010).…”

“…Rather than just serving to eradicate hunger and provide child welfare, scholars contend that CCTs are also designed to reengineer underperforming sectors of society (Corboz, 2013;Ferguson, 2010;Meltzer, 2013;Theodore, 2012, 2015). Simply put, the poor are meant to change their habits, behaviors, and practices by adhering to CCT conditionalities (Hossain, 2010).…”

“…While academic debates often investigate the biopolitical and neoliberal underpinnings of CCT programs (Corboz, 2013;Meltzer, 2013;Sener, 2015) …”