Not “Just Staying”: How Health and Development Programming is Reshaping the Past, Present and Future for Rural Youth in Malawi by Lauren Stephanie Classen A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology University of Toronto © Copyright by Lauren Classen 2013 Not “Just Staying”: How Health and Development Programming is Reshaping the Past, Present and Future for Rural Malawian Youth Lauren Classen Doctorate of Philosophy Department of Anthropology University of Toronto 2013 Abstract Drawing on ethnographic and visual anthropological data, this dissertation explores the anticipated and unanticipated effects of youth-targeted health and development programmes in rural Malawi. Contemporary development programmes are anticipatory in nature: they are focused on managing health, behaviour, education and social relations today in ways that are believed to open opportunities for some distant and better future. Working with rural youth who “just stay,” an idiom youth use to describe their “failure” to make progress towards desired futures, I show how discourses and ideals espoused in anticipatory programmes including human rights, education, gender and love are slippery concepts. As they percolate through this particular social, political, historical and demographic context and into the imaginaries of young people, these discourses often become something new and unexpected. In particular I show how: i) a discursive elision occurs between the rights discourse and other markers of modernity and youth take up their “right” to wear modern clothing and drink commercial alcohol, ii) selfish behaviours including alcoholism and womanising surface in boys’ self-constructions as innate ii tendencies rather than part of a socially produced and constantly shifting construction of masculinity, iii) audit cultures, critical to the operation of anticipatory programmes, reduce gender equality to something “countable,” which, in turn, alters programme activities, leads to performances by participants and filters into youth subjectivities, and iv) discourses on modern and “healthy” loves, free from HIV/AIDS, lead to re-arrangements in romantic relations and friendships that provide new and positive opportunities for women not always available in customary marriages. By privileging the future over the present and the past, programmes overlook numerous structural barriers to improving the lives of the youth who “just stay.” I argue that the unanticipated effects of these programmes constitute and give rise to several invisible forms of violence. On the other hand, however, some effects are generative of new and positive subjectivities and relationships that are egregiously overlooked by programmes. This ignorance prevents programmes from building upon positive effects to generate desired change and sometimes even undermines their own stated goals. iii Acknowledgments The pages that follow reflect my relationships with many generous and inspiring people without whom I would never have completed this journey. I cherish each contribution to my development as a person and a scholar. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Holly Wardlow and Dr. Daniel Sellen. To Holly, I am eternally grateful for her patience, meticulous editing, and detailed comments on my endless drafts; she pushed me theoretically and inspired me emotionally to take my dissertation far beyond what I might have imagined. I thank Dan for his unwavering faith in my capabilities, and for demonstrating in his work that rigorous scholarship can and must be accessible beyond academia and that social change is central to intellectual work. I also express my deep appreciation to Dr. Krystyna Sieciechowicz whose long emails provided persistent encouragement to me while I was in the field and whose passing is a momentous loss to the department and graduate student experience. Special thanks to Dr. Bianca Dahl who stepped in near the end of my writing and immediately took to the task of providing extensive comments, inspiring suggestions, and continual motivation. To the other members of my defense committee, Dr. Deborah Durham, Dr. Janice Boddy, and Dr. Mark Hunter, I am grateful for your thoughtful criticism and enthusiasm for my work. I would like to acknowledge the financial backing of the University of Toronto, the International Development Research Centre, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council without which my research would not have been possible. I give a special thanks to all those who supported me during my time in Malawi. I am deeply obliged to Dr. Rachel Bezner-Kerr who was tremendously gracious with her time and support in the field and who reminds me that concern for human welfare should transcend my academic work and provide a quest for my future. To my research assistant Elita Nyambose, and colleagues Laifolo Dakishoni, Lizzie Shumba, and Esther Lupafya and, of course, all the youth who gave their precious time and enthusiasm to my research, I am forever indebted and send my iv heartfelt thanks. One of my most important sources of inspiration for continuing with graduate school is my master’s supervisor and close friend, Dr. Sally Humphries. Not only was Sally my greatest champion, even during times of enduring struggle, but her eternal optimism and generous spirit leave me much to aspire to. The generosity shown to me by fellow students and dear friends Alyson Stone, Laura Sikstrom, Kori Allan, Sharon Kelly, and Jessica Taylor is humbling. Not only did their patient, endless discussions about my work shape the core of my theoretical arguments, but they were my counselors, cheerleaders, and life raft throughout the doctoral expedition. I thank them for teaching me more about the kind of friend I want to be. Yolanda Dasselaar, Quinn Baleja, and Kathleen Garrett, among my oldest and most cherished friends, provided their ears, their hearts, and their homes whenever I needed them as well as a distraction from dissertation’s grip just when I felt I would be swallowed whole. For this, I am forever grateful. I feel especially indebted to my family; their love and pride provided my inspiration and driving force. Carl and Marion Classen, my parents, who have always supported and encouraged me in all my endeavours, were confident in my capabilities even when I was not. My sister and brother, Meghan and Joel, grandparents, Jake and Elsie Unger, and my extended family, too, have been my biggest fans. My in-laws, who came to know me amidst the stress of dissertation writing, provided unconditional support. Finally, and above all, I would like to thank my husband, Steven Sovran, for his unequivocal support, kindness, extraordinary tolerance, and hours upon hours of superb editing. His love, constant patience, and sense of humour have taught me much about sacrifice, compromise, discipline, and humility. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................x List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................ xii Introduction: Meeting Desire ...........................................................................................................1 African Youth in Crisis and Anthropological Responses .........................................................10 Anticipation and Youth-Targeted Interventions .......................................................................24 Auditing gender equality in development .................................................................................35 Modern Loves in African Contexts ...........................................................................................37 Situating this study ....................................................................................................................41 Health and Development interventions targeting rural youth ...................................................48 Style and Organization of this Dissertation ..............................................................................52 Style ................................................................................................................................52 Organization .......................................................................................................................53 Chapter 1: Picturing Youths’ Lives ...............................................................................................56 Photography in social research..................................................................................................61 Photo-LENS ..............................................................................................................................66 Analytical Approaches to Understanding Visual Data .............................................................67 Methodological Challenges and Ethical Dilemmas ..................................................................69