Governance of parenting in poor households: NGOs and their actions during the pandemic

Abstract

This article analyzes the parenting practices of poor families located in the city of Ibagué (Colombia), which emerged in the families’ relationships with an NGO that provided them with support during the COVID-19 pandemic. An ethnographic methodology was used, complemented with dialogic and participatory strategies. Two types of parenting practices were identified: food-based care and educational support. While the first was based upon receiving donations and was subject to market dynamics, the second was based on the allocation of educational roles to parents and caregivers so that they could teach their children based on the State’s guidelines. The authors conclude that these interventions support families to self-manage their precarious situation in the framework of the legitimation of a neoliberal social order.