The (Dis-)Appearance of “(M)others”: The Roles of International Development Organizations on the Discourses of Women in Indonesia’s Early Childhood Education Programs

With massive support from international organisations, Indonesia has been one of the fastest-growing countries with the highest enrolment increase in Early Childhood Education (ECE). The rapid scaling up is known to be primarily supported by women. Unfortunately, the impacts of ECE on women remain under-recognized. On the community side, the early learning approach perpetuates the governmentalization of women and stigmatizes child-rearing done by low-income mothers. Meanwhile, on the side of policy, the ECE expansion program has mobilized and recruited women to serve as teachers and managers with meagre earnings and low-quality work conditions. At a glance, these practices may appear to be rooted in local social norms, disconnected from international organizations’ roles. However, In this article, I argue that, by turning a blind eye, international organizations have thus contributed to the re-traditionalization of women’s care work as unpaid labour and instrumentalization of middle-class caring values that turn poor women’s mothering into the practices of “Others”. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.