ABSTRACT

Children in urban poor locales live in spaces that are marginalised with constrained social services. Mitigating interventions providing early childhood care services are often oblivious to how institutions and norms can exacerbate exclusion. Drawing on a qualitative study of child health in an urban poor locale in Kenya, I examined how these norms interact with the limits of the caregiving context. Using a social exclusion lens, the analysis reveals how gendered norms homogenise and label caregivers, favour a charity model and crowd out certain caregivers. I propose an inclusive social justice model to reposition caregivers and transform exclusionary normative practice.