Abstract

This dissertation explores the role of private corporations in the prevention of chronic malnutrition in twenty-first-century Guatemala. I examine how the regulation of maternal behavior serves as the linchpin of corporate-led programs addressing malnutrition in the country. My research draws on 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork—including archival research, interviews, and observations—to analyze why corporate actors are so invested in preventing chronic malnutrition by targeting maternal behavior. Under the banner of corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporations design and manage their own maternal and child health and nutrition interventions, aligned with The First 1,000 Days of Life framework. I argue that these programs promote women’s empowerment, individual behavior change, and income-generating strategies as mechanisms to extend corporate control into domestic spaces, create new markets, and increase economic returns. I suggest that these programs, while focused on improving children’s health and nutrition, function as tools for reshaping Indigenous Maya women into ideal subjects of corporate-oriented development. Yet, women engage with these programs critically and selectively, using them to support their children while resisting excessive corporate oversight. In doing so, they reveal the limits of corporate-led development and the enduring strength of community-based practices and their maternal expertise.

Committee Chair

Bret Gustafson

Committee Members

Rebecca Lester; E.A. Quinn; Emily Yates-Doerr; Talia Dan-Cohen

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

Anthropology

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

5-6-2025

Language

English (en)

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Available for download on Wednesday, May 05, 2027

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Anthropology Commons

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