Abstract
In 2007, the Indonesian government introduced Generasi, a community-driven development program to address village priorities such as reducing poverty, maternal mortality, and child mortality. When describing Generasi’s biggest challenges, program facilitators on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores used a geographic vocabulary of fields (medan, lapangan) and topography (topografi) that evokes the demands of supervising Generasi’s implementation across dozens of mountain villages with poor infrastructure. But their geographic language also extends metaphorically to the enduring problems of scale and governance. I analyze these discourses of topography and field in relation to the changing therapeutic landscape of maternal and child health services in the Manggarai highlands of western Flores, then follow Generasi’s scalar scaffolding from the meetings and clinics in villages, to the technocratic policy work in Jakarta, and to the academic spaces of Auckland and Cambridge.
Highlights
In 2007, the Indonesian government introduced Generasi, a community-driven development program to address village priorities such as reducing poverty, maternal mortality, and child mortality
When asked to describe the biggest challenges in implementing Generasi, the program staff in Manggarai Timur repeatedly used a geographic vocabulary of fields, topography, and region and territory that evokes the demands of supervising a government program across dozens of mountain villages with notoriously poor infrastructure
In this article I analyze the use of spatial metaphors of topography and field in relation to the changing governance of maternal and child health services in Indonesian villages, taking the Manggarai highlands as a case study example
Summary
In this article I analyze the use of spatial metaphors of topography and field in relation to the changing governance of maternal and child health services in Indonesian villages, taking the Manggarai highlands as a case study example. Focusing on the language of topography and field allows me to critically describe how Generasi is scaffolded at multiple scales, from its community participation meetings and monthly maternal and child health clinics in Manggarai villages, to the technocratic policy work in Jakarta, and to the academic spaces of Auckland and Cambridge. There was not much work, staff morale was low, and the office had no funds for electricity The assistant attributed her tardiness to flu-like symptoms (masuk angin) triggered by the strenuous walk to and from the village of Semang during the prior day’s fieldwork. With partial support from Generasi, each hamlet hosts their own posyandu, monthly maternal and child health clinics managed by the village midwife and staffed by five hamlet volunteers, typically in one of the volunteer’s houses
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