DOCSLIB.ORG

Child Well-Being: Anthropological Perspectives 18

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Child Well-Being: Anthropological Perspectives 18 Child Well-Being: Anthropological Perspectives 18 Edward G. J. Stevenson and Carol M. Worthman 18.1 Introduction Anthropology commonly is regarded as the study of human origins or exotic cultures, but in fact, its remit embraces all aspects of humanity. It is distinguished from other social sciences, conceptually, by its attention to both culture and biology and their interaction on the timescales of evolution, history, and the individual lifespan, and methodologically, by a tradition of ethnographic fieldwork conducted among diverse populations. Anthropological study of children occupies a special place in the discipline, as it engages with issues from the evolution of the life course to how culture is acquired during the earliest years. A lapse in attention to children and childhood by mainstream anthropology in recent decades has been balanced by a current surge of interest in the place of children in society and appreciation of the value of anthropological studies for understanding child well-being (Bluebond- Langner and Korbin 2007; Lancy 2008). Unfortunately, major recent reviews of threats to child welfare and how to ameliorate them (Grantham-McGregor et al. 2007; Engle et al. 2007; Walker et al. 2007, 2011) have largely overlooked anthropological contributions – and particularly the importance of culture as a determinant of both socioeconomic conditions and local definitions of well- being. In this chapter, we discuss anthropological perspectives that advance E.G.J. Stevenson (*) Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] C.M. Worthman Laboratory for Comparative Human Biology, Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA e-mail: [email protected] A. Ben-Arieh et al. (eds.), Handbook of Child Well-Being, 485 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_20, # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 486 E.G.J. Stevenson and C.M. Worthman understanding of child well-being by engaging the places and possibilities that various societies provide for children. The chapter is structured as follows: First, we summarize how culture consti- tutes a basic and unique feature of human childhood and child care and is therefore a necessary concept for modeling child development and well-being. Then, we describe models that anthropologists have used to explain variation in child development and well-being. Next, we consider the ways these models add to our understanding of how ongoing transitions in vital rates, education, nutrition and disease, and politics, economics, and ecology are affecting child well-being worldwide. Finally, we describe policy implications and suggest future research directions. Our broad aims are to demonstrate the value of anthropological approaches for understanding and promoting child well-being and to illustrate the kinds of research needed to test hypotheses derived from anthropological models. 18.2 Shared and Variable Features of Human Childhood Underpinning the anthropological approach to child well-being is a set of observations about children in relation to other species. One observation is that humans are distinctive vis-a`-vis their nearest living relatives, the chimpan- zees and gorillas, in how long they remain dependent on caregivers. Whereas other primates begin to locomote early and receive only milk from their mothers, humans are unable to walk until they are nearly a year old and rely on adults for provision of food until maturity (Pereira and Fairbanks 2002). Another basic observation is that the circumstances of child-rearing among humans are tremendously diverse, ranging across almost all the world’s terrestrial ecosystems and including social contexts from small, mobile, and relatively egalitarianforaginggroupstodenseurban neighborhoods characterized by great inequality. Together, these two features – prolonged dependence and environmental variation – have important consequences for human development and well- being. During the prolonged juvenile phase, both the nervous system and the immune system – which are characterized by immense complexity and mediate critical social and ecological relations – rely on or are sensitive to environmental cues that are expectable features of experience. For example, children acquire cultural concepts through exposure to the language-using community in which they grow up (Ochs and Schieffelin 1986), and they acquire immunocompetence via early exposures to pathogens and irritants (reviewed in McDade 2005). Behavioral patterns, including diet, are often shared at the level of the local group; and risks and opportunities for healthy development also vary significantly at this level. Accounting for environmental variation therefore is crucial for deriving more valid, generalizable models of child development and well-being. 18 Child Well-Being: Anthropological Perspectives 487 Table 18.1 Four major dimensions of child well-being studied by anthropologists Health Relationships Nutrition and growth (Eveleth and Tanner Attachment/anxiety (Hrdy 2005; LeVine and 1990; Martorell et al. 2010) Norman 2001) Food/water security (Dettwyler 1993; Hadley Social relations (Hinde 1987; Whiting and and Wutich 2009; Stevenson et al. 2012) Edwards 1988) Morbidity (Bentley et al. 1991) Sexual mores (Mead 1928; Herdt 1989) Mortality (Hill and Hurtado 1996; Kaplan Freedom of choice and action (Lancy 2008; et al. 1995) Panter-Brick 2002) Stress/suffering Competence Early stressors (Landauer and Whiting 1981; Knowledge/learning (Blurton Jones and Konner Kuzawa 1998) 1976; Boyd and Richerson 1985; Richerson et al. 2010) Biocultural mediators (Worthman et al. 2010) Psychomotor development (Chisholm 1983; Adolph et al. 2010) Subjective well-being (Izquierdo 2005; Play (Norbeck 1974; Schwartzman 1976; Bock Godoy et al. 2009; Kohrt et al. 2011) and Johnson 2004) 18.2.1 Problems and Goals in the Anthropology of Well-Being In anthropology, research relevant to child well-being has been carried out both by cultural anthropologists, who have tended to focus on children’s linguistic, moral, and psychological development, and by biological anthropologists, who have tended to focus on mortality, physical growth and maturation, and stress. Although we cannot hope to represent the whole range of topics that anthropologists have addressed in relation to child well-being, Table 18.1 reflects the diversity of relevant concerns, under the headings of health, relationships, competence, and stress or suffering. Work by both cultural and biological anthropologists has acted as a check against the assumption that Western standards of human development (including developmental tempo and markers of competence) apply to all humanity (see Mead 1928; LeVine and White 1986; Henrich et al. 2010). Ethnography, the hallmark method of anthropology, which combines interview and observation of naturalistic behavior, often over long periods of time, can provide windows into child devel- opment in cultural context and accommodates rich description of multiple dimen- sions of well-being (LeVine 2007). Ethnography may expose unexpected relationships between environments of child-rearing and outcomes in terms of well-being. For example: • Among the Yoruba of Nigeria, parents provide only very small amounts of meat or fish to their children, for fear of spoiling their alafia, “a [concept of] well- being that includes physical health, peace of mind, material prosperity, [and] harmonious relationships” (Zeitlin 1996: 410). • Among the Gusii of Kenya, minimal verbal interaction between parents and children, and consistent withholding of praise, serves as part of a socialization strategy that promotes obedience and responsibility, without any apparent harm to children’s self-esteem (LeVine et al. 1994). 488 E.G.J. Stevenson and C.M. Worthman • Among the Matsigenka of the Peruvian Amazon, physical health has improved over the past three decades, but the commonness of sorcery accusations (a marker of social cohesion and trust) has increased (Izquierdo 2005). One goal of anthropology is to explain such apparently paradoxical relationships between environments and outcomes by taking into account the cultural context – and especially local systems of meanings and expectations about what it is to be a person and to lead a good life (LeVine and White 1986; D’Andrade 1992; Shweder 1996; Markus and Kitayama 1998). This requires close attention to indigenous concepts, which may often be difficult to translate. A more ambitious and elusive goal of anthropology is to identify regularities in well-being across cultures and through time. This enterprise, contrastingly, requires broad definitions of well-being that apply to many cultures. For the purposes of this effort, we may assume that well-being everywhere partially corresponds with phys- ical health and that it is dependent on a set of basic capacities in the individual (e.g., adequate nutritional status) and on social supports (e.g., nurturing relationships). These two complementary goals of anthropology are reflected in two, overlapping families of models that we describe below – one aimed at explaining well-being in cultural context, and the other at explaining variation in well-being across cultures. An assumption common to both approaches is that while much variation in child well- being may be determined by culture, other influences – such as differences in childcare arrangements within the same cultural community and processes such as globalization that affect many cultural groups – are also important. Integrating
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Childhood Studies: a Sustainable Paradigm?
    CHD0010.1177/0907568216631399ChildhoodHammersley 631399research-article2016 Article Childhood 2017, Vol. 24(1) 113 –127 Childhood Studies: © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: A sustainable paradigm? sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0907568216631399 journals.sagepub.com/home/chd Martyn Hammersley The Open University, UK Abstract This article interrogates what are frequently taken to be central commitments of Childhood Studies: the idea that children are worthy of study ‘in their own right’, that childhood is a ‘social construction’, that children are and must be treated as active agents, and that participatory methods are the gold standard. It is argued that while these ideas have been fruitful in some respects, they involve fundamental problems. Keywords Agency, autonomy, Childhood Studies, constructionism, participatory inquiry In this article, I want to examine what are often presented as central commitments of the field of Childhood Studies. These include the idea that children are worthy of study ‘in their own right’, that childhood is a ‘social construction’, that children are and must be treated as active agents, and that participatory methods are the gold standard. These com- mitments are frequently treated as constituting a new paradigm, one that developed in the 1980s and 1990s (see, for example, James and Prout, 1997; Jenks, 1996; Kehily 2009).1 A central theme in the rationale for this new paradigm has been the claim that child- hood and children were previously marginalised by conventional disciplinary research. While its adherents recognised that developmental psychologists had carried out a con- siderable amount of research on children, and that the socialisation of children had been given some attention by anthropologists and sociologists, they argued that, in general, both these sorts of research were inadequate in theoretical and/or methodological terms, and perhaps even unethical and/or politically regressive.
    [Show full text]
  • Handbook of Child Well-Being
    Handbook of Child Well-Being Asher Ben-Arieh • Ferran Casas Ivar Frønes • Jill E. Korbin Editors Handbook of Child Well-Being Theories, Methods and Policies in Global Perspective With 138 Figures and 85 Tables Editors Asher Ben-Arieh Ivar Frønes Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Department of Sociology and Social Welfare Human Geography The Hebrew University of Jerusalem University of Oslo Jerusalem, Israel Oslo, Norway Ferran Casas The Norwegian Center for Child Research Institute of Quality of Life Behavioural Development University of Girona University of Oslo Girona, Spain Oslo, Norway Jill E. Korbin Department of Anthropology Schubert Center for Child Studies Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, USA ISBN 978-90-481-9062-1 ISBN 978-90-481-9063-8 (eBook) ISBN 978-90-481-9064-5 (print and electronic bundle) DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London Library of Congress Control Number: 2013942189 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Childhood Studies
    EDUCATION: EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES (ECS) DEPARTMENT OFFICE elementary school teachers Stevenson 1078 • Pre-requisite work for the special education teaching (707) 664 3238 credential fax: (707) 664 2483 Students may also work with an advisor to prepare for graduate DEPARTMENT CHAIR studies in related fields such as education, human development, Chiara Bacigalupa social work, and counseling. ADMINISTRATIVE ANALYST Degree Requirements Units Kathryn Teixeira General education 50 Lower Division 16 Faculty Upper Division 26 Electives 28 Chiara Bacigalupa Total units needed for graduation 120 Charles A. Elster Johanna Filp-Hanke Admission Requirements For admissions to the major, students must have achieved: Programs Offered • 2.0 GPA The Department of Early Childhood Studies offers a major in Early • There is no prerequisite coursework for this major Childhood Studies, a minor in Early Childhood Studies and a Master of Arts in education with concentration in Early Childhood Education. Major Core Requirements (36 units) Students may also use early childhood education courses to satisfy EDEC 201 Foundations of Early Care and Education 4 requirements for the Child Development Permit currently in effect EDEC 220 Observing Child Development in the First Eight Years 4 for teachers of California state-funded preschool and after-school EDEC 237 Creating Environments for Young Children 4 programs. EDEC 270 Children and Families in a Diverse Society 4 EDEC 420 Child Development in the Family, School and Community 3 Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies EDEC 437 Integrated Curriculum in Early Childhood Classrooms 4 EDSP 432 Young Children with Special Needs 4 The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Studies is designed EDEC 435 Advocating for Children and Families 4 to provide graduates with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions EDEC 460 Studying Children in Context 4 needed to work effectively with children in early childhood (birth to EDEC 478 Early Childhood Studies Portfolio 1 age 8).
    [Show full text]
  • Childhood in Sociology and Society the US Perspective
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SHAREOK repository Childhood in Sociology and Society The US Perspective Loretta E. Bass CS University of Oklahoma abstract: The field of childhood studies in the US is comprised of cross-disciplinary researchers who theorize and conduct research on both children and youth. US sociologists who study childhood largely draw on the childhood literature pub- lished in English. This article focuses on American sociological contributions, but notes relevant contributions from non-American scholars published in English that have shaped and fueled American research. This article also profiles the insti- tutional support of childhood research in the US, specifically outlining the activities of the ‘Children and Youth’ Section of the American Sociological Association (ASA), and assesses the contributions of this area of study for sociology as well as the impli- cations for an interdisciplinary field. keywords: childhood ✦ children ✦ children’s well-being ✦ social inequalities ✦ social policy ✦ United States Introduction My approach to providing a US country report on the sociological study of children takes three forms. I first examine the US context of the study of children since 1980, discussing important research findings and the develop- ment of the field. Walkerdine (2004) provides a comprehensive discussion of the earlier debate focused on when childhood became distinguished from adulthood – such as Ariès (1962 [1960]), de Mause (1974) and Demos (1970). I then examine the major perspectives and research initiatives as they inform the empirical lives of American children. Finally, I consider the useful- ness of childhood as an interdisciplinary area of study, and present a vision for the future of childhood studies within sociology.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of the Children's Studies Program and Center at Brooklyn
    THE HISTORY OF THE CHILDREN’S STUDIES PROGRAM AND CENTER AT BROOKLYN COLLEGE OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK FOUNDING OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF CHILDREN’S STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES 2 THE HISTORY OF THE CHILDREN’S STUDIES PROGRAM AND CENTER AT BROOKLYN COLLEGE OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK FOUNDING OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF CHILDREN’S STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES Gertrud Lenzer and Loretta Chin Children’s Studies Center for Research, Policy and Public Service Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, June 2015 3 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Preface 11 II. Founding of the Interdisciplinary Field of Children’s Studies at Brooklyn College 16 A. Background, History, and Vision 17 III. Children’s Studies as a Human Rights Initiative 19 IV. The Children’s Studies Program 21 A. Current Course Offerings 23 1. Children’s Studies Minor 23 2. Children’s Studies Bachelor of Arts Degree 24 3. Children’s Studies Concentration 25 V. The Children’s Studies Center 26 A. Public Policy and Research Initiatives 27 1. Policy Symposium: Children and the Law in New York and Legislation for an Independent Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) for New York 27 a. Selected Outcomes of the Children and the Law Policy Symposium 29 2. Introduction of Legislation for the Establishment of an Independent Office of the Child Advocate for New York 31 5 a. OCA Legislation in New York, 2004-2010 Legislative History 32 b. Arguments For and Against the OCA Legislation 33 c. U.S. Department of Justice Investigation 34 d.
    [Show full text]
  • Children at the Borders
    Children at the Borders Jonathan Josefsson Linköping Studies in Arts and Science, No 706 Department of Thematic Studies – Child Studies Linköping University, Sweden Linköping 2016 Linköping Studies in Arts and Science No. 706 At the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Linköping University, research and doctoral studies are carried out within broad problem areas. Research is or- ganized in interdisciplinary research environments and doctoral studies mainly in graduate schools. Jointly, they publish the series Linköping Studies in arts and Science. This thesis comes from TEMA Barn, the Department of Thematic Studies – Child Studies. Distributed by: TEMA – the Department of Thematic Studies Linköping University 581 83 Linköping Sweden Jonathan Josefsson Children at the Borders Edition 1:1 ISBN 978-91-7685-602-4 ISSN 0282-980 Jonathan Josefsson, 2016 TEMA – the Department of Thematic Studies Printed by LiU-Tryck, Linköping, Sweden, 2016 Cover picture: Caroline Färnström ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements To write this thesis had not been possible without all of you who have been involved in it along the way. Firstly, a special thanks to you, my super- visor Karin Zetterqvist Nelson. It feels like we started this work together from day one when you called me on my phone to let me know I was admit- ted as a doctoral student. Your devotion to research on children and child- hood and to this project have been truly inspiring. I have appreciated your courage to try new routes, always with a sharp, sceptical and professional eye, but at the same time indeed encouraging. A special thanks also to you Göran Collste. I’m grateful for your critical reading, our stimulating discus- sions and all your support.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Childhood Studies Program HANDBOOK
    Early Childhood Studies Program HANDBOOK The Master of Arts Program in Early Childhood Studies is concerned with the education and development of children from birth to eight years of age. It is designed to accomplish three major goals: ● to relate research on the growth, development, and education of young children with practice in early childhood education programs; ● to strengthen the knowledge of early educators and other educational personnel pertaining to the education and development of young children; and ● to investigate issues central to early childhood education, specifically focusing on issues of equity and inclusion. This program is ideal for those candidates who already have Early Childhood Education initial certification and are seeking a Master's degree as well as those who are not interested in initial teacher certification in New York State. Early Childhood Studies Teachers College, Columbia University Department of Curriculum and Teaching Box 31 - 302 Zankel Building 525 West 120th Street New York, New York 10027 Program Director Professor Mariana Souto-Manning Phone: (212) 678-3970 - ​[email protected] Program Manager Kara Sheridan Phone: (212) 678-3860 - Fax: (212) 678-3237 [email protected] 2 Overview The M.A. in Early Childhood Studies aims to strengthen the knowledge of early educators and other educational personnel pertaining to the education and development of young children, entailing the investigation of issues central to early childhood education. This program is ideal for candidates who already have Early Childhood Education initial certification and are seeking a master's degree as well as for those who are not interested in initial teacher certification in New York State; this degree does not lead to New York State teaching certification.
    [Show full text]
  • Anthropology-Of-Childhood-Syllabus
    Anthropology 180A: Anthropology of Childhood R. Stryker Course Description: Western depictions and understandings of youth often stereotype children as passive receivers of cultural knowledge. However, children are actually active producers of culture in the modern world -- they act as laborers, teachers and sages, soldiers, and conflict resolvers. In this course, we will focus on the myths and realities of children around the world in light of industrialization, globalization and transnationalism. Students will first become familiar with some sociohistorical and theoretical frameworks to help them think about childhood as an object of ethnographic study. Students then turn to child-centered, ethnographic accounts of childhood across the world, focusing specifically on children's experiences in such communities as adoptive homes in middle-class America,, street child slums of industrial Brazil, the child sex work industry of Thailand and children’s collectives in pre- and post-Apartheid South Africa, just to name a few. The course ultimately provides students with the tools they need to move beyond mere sentimentalization of children and childhood towards a more sophisticated understanding of children as geopolitical subjects, and toward the varied and multicultural experiences of children and childhood around the world. Course Requirements: Attendance is mandatory/Participation is highly valued. Roll is taken at every class; two absences will be excused during the semester. (20%) Kinerculture Assignment (3-5 pages) (20%) Constructing Childhood Essay (5-7 pages) (25%) Take-Home Exam (8-10 pages) (25%) Reflection Paper: Children as Social Agents (10%) Required Texts: Jiménez, Francisco. 1997. The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child.
    [Show full text]
  • Risks in Early Childhood. Reconstructing Notions of Risk In
    Betz, Tanja Risks in early childhood. Reconstructing notions of risk in political reports on children and childhood in Germany Child indicators research : the official journal of the International Society for Child Indicators 7 (2014) 4, S. 769-786 Empfohlene Zitierung/ Suggested Citation: Betz, Tanja: Risks in early childhood. Reconstructing notions of risk in political reports on children and childhood in Germany - In: Child indicators research : the official journal of the International Society for Child Indicators 7 (2014) 4, S. 769-786 - URN: urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-118306 - DOI: 10.1007/s12187-013-9211-9 http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-118306 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12187-013-9211-9 Nutzungsbedingungen Terms of use Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und We grant a non-exclusive, non-transferable, individual and limited right to beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist using this document. ausschließlich für den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch This document is solely intended for your personal, non-commercial use. Use bestimmt. Die Nutzung stellt keine Übertragung des Eigentumsrechts an of this document does not include any transfer of property rights and it is diesem Dokument dar und gilt vorbehaltlich der folgenden Einschränkungen: conditional to the following limitations: All of the copies of this documents must Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle retain all copyright information and other information regarding legal Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen Schutz protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any way, to copy it for beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument nicht in irgendeiner Weise public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, abändern, noch dürfen Sie dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder distribute or otherwise use the document in public.
    [Show full text]
  • Children and Childhood in World Religions the Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies
    Children and Childhood in World Religions The Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies The Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies is dedicated to increasing our under- standing of children and childhoods, past and present, throughout the world. Children’s voices and experiences are central. Authors come from a variety of fi elds, including anthropology, criminal justice, history, literature, psychology, religion, and sociology. The books in this series are intended for students, scholars, practitioners, and those who formulate policies that affect children’s everyday lives and futures. Edited by Myra Bluebond-Langner, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University, Camden, and founding director of the Rutgers University Center for Children and Childhood Studies Advisory Board Joan Jacobs Brumberg, Cornell University Perri Klass, New York University Jill Korbin, Case Western Reserve University Bambi Schieffl in, New York University Enid Schildkraut, American Museum of Natural History and Museum for African Art Children and Childhood in World Religions Primary Sources and Texts EDITED BY DON S. BROWNING AND MARCIA J. BUNGE RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, AND LONDON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Don S. Browning and Marcia J. Bunge. Children and childhood in world religions : primary sources and texts / edited by Don S. Browning and Marcia J. Bunge. p. cm. — (Rutgers series in childhood studies) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-0-8135-4517-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Religions. 2. Children—Religious aspects. I. Browning, Don S. II. Bunge, Marcia J. (Marcia JoAnn), 1954– BL85.C45 2009 200.83—dc22 2008043378 A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
    [Show full text]
  • From Childhood Studies to Childism: Reconstructing the Scholarly and Social Imaginations
    Children's Geographies ISSN: 1473-3285 (Print) 1473-3277 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cchg20 From childhood studies to childism: reconstructing the scholarly and social imaginations John Wall To cite this article: John Wall (2019): From childhood studies to childism: reconstructing the scholarly and social imaginations, Children's Geographies, DOI: 10.1080/14733285.2019.1668912 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2019.1668912 Published online: 25 Sep 2019. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 34 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cchg20 CHILDREN’S GEOGRAPHIES https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2019.1668912 From childhood studies to childism: reconstructing the scholarly and social imaginations John Wall Department of Social Science and Business, Roskilde University, Denmark ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY This article proposes a new lens or prism called childism for critiquing the Received 11 September 2018 deeply engrained adultism that pervades scholarship and societies and Accepted 29 August 2019 reconstructing more age-inclusive research and social imaginations. KEYWORDS Childism grows out of childhood studies but also makes demands on fi Adultism; age; child; social scienti c and humanistic disciplines more broadly, as well as upon childhood studies; childism social practices. In this way, it is analogous to feminism and other critical movements while also making distinct theoretical and methodological contributions of its own. Ultimately, it calls for responding to structural experiences of age as vital to critical social understanding as such. To these ends, the article distinguishes childism from childhood studies, shows how it is emerging in diverse disciplinary contexts, explains how it differs from alternative uses of the term childism, and develops systematic theoretical grounds for advancing childism across the academy and society.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Childhood and Youth Studies Course Overview
    08/12/2020 Introduction to Childhood and Yo uth Studies PSYC 80103 Wednesdays 4:15-6:15 Roger Hart Office 6203.13 212 817 1887 [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesdays 2pm to 4pm Course Overview The interdisciplinary study of childhood has emerged over the past three decades, primarily as a reaction to the past failure of the social sciences to take seriously the study of children and childhood and leaving the study of children and youth largely to the field of psychology. Some also say that the impetus for what is sometimes called the “new sociology/anthropology of childhood” can be traced to the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been adopted by all countries except the United States: ‘The interlocking Articles of the Convention offer children an internationally recognized set of rights that they can hold in independence of the interests and activities of the adults that directly surround them’ (Lee 2001, 92). But whatever the combination of forces was for the burgeoning of this interdisciplinary activity, it has become an important complement to the field of psychology. It often called “critical” childhood study because of a felt need to distance itself from the taken-for-granted, universalizing, views of childhood that have been dominant in the past, through a perspective of critique. The seminar begins with an introduction to the social construction of childhood and to changing concepts of childhood and adolescence from a variety of historical periods, asking what we mean by “childhood” or “youth” and what is at stake in these definitions? We examine various historical models of childhood and how they survive in different degrees and combinations today, including the romantic child, the sinful child, the sacred child, the child as miniature adult and the developing child.
    [Show full text]