Anthropology of Children and Childhood

Extreme parenting and Time magazine

by Deborah Lupton

A commentary published on an online discussion site on the infamous Time magazine cover of 21 May 2012 featuring a woman breastfeeding her 3 year old son.

Children as Researchers in Primary Schools: Choice, Voice and Participation

by Sue Bucknall

Published by Routledge on 24th May 2012

Children as Researchers in Primary Schools is an innovative and unique resource for practitioners supporting children... more Children as Researchers in Primary Schools is an innovative and unique resource for practitioners supporting children to become ‘real world’ researchers in the primary classroom. It will supply you with the skills and ideas you need to implement a ‘children as researchers’ framework in your school that can be adapted for different ages and abilities. Children in primary schools are accustomed to being set short-term goals and are often unaware of long-term aims or of the connections between the concepts and skills they are learning. In contrast, this book demonstrates that children engaging in the research process have authentic opportunities to apply invaluable personal, learning and thinking skills while managing their own projects, making their ‘voices’ heard and experiencing increased levels of engagement and self-esteem.

Based on the author’s 4-year research study exploring the experiences of young researchers and teachers in primary schools, and on her considerable experience of training young researchers, this book also contains:

    the history and theory behind ‘children as researchers’ initiatives;

    a model for good practice based on successful real life case studies;

    questions for reflective practice;

    practical examples of research in the classroom;

    photocopiable resources;

    opportunities for self-evaluation.

This comprehensive resource will be appeal to primary teachers, educational practitioners and students on CPD and ITT courses. It will also be of interest to teacher trainers, to academics involved in teaching and research and to all those interested in promoting children’s voices.

To what extent are social work students in England and Denmark equipped to deal with child sexual abuse? A comparative discourse analysis between …

by Kevin Perry

Biosocial Imaginations and Educational Futures

by Nick Lee

An excerpt of a draft paper currently under review.

Coauthored with Johanna Motzkau

We introduce the concept of ‘biosocial imagination’ as a feature of the organization of educational effort and... more We introduce the concept of ‘biosocial imagination’ as a feature of the organization of educational effort and illustrate its relation to educational futures. Using examples of educational uses of fish oil supplements and neuro-linguistic programming we then illustrate a contemporary style of biosocial imagination – ‘tweaking’ - and indicate means by which it may shape educational futures. We argue that ‘tweaking’ can limit thinking about what individuals can become through education by channeling agency toward improved exam performance and that it presents a narrowly anthropocentric view of the potential significance of biosocial relations for educational futures. Drawing on contemporary biosocial concerns, we then proposed a generative frame that may play a part in the emergence of fresh biosocial imaginations.

Navigating the Bio-politics of Childhood: How Far can Hybridity Take Us?

by Nick Lee

A much improved version is available in Childhood: a Global Journal of Child Research

Co-authored with Dr. Johanna Motzkau

The study of childhood is currently weakened by a biological/social dualism, separating ‘social’ from ‘developmental’... more The study of childhood is currently weakened by a biological/social dualism, separating ‘social’ from ‘developmental’ traditions and falsely identifying the investigation of life processes with the naturalisation of childhood. Researching the emerging space of childhood bio-politics, in which life processes are central to social and political processes, requires that these problems be managed. The view of childhood as a ‘hybrid’ phenomenon allows for the management of dualism but has difficulty navigating bio-political space. A supplementary approach based on multiplicities of ‘life’, ‘voice’ and ‘resource’ is described. The argument is illustrated by discussion of sonic ‘teen deterrents’ in the UK. .

Using mobile phone diaries to explore children’s everyday lives

by Lydia Plowman

Plowman L. & Stevenson O. (forthcoming) Using mobile phone diaries to explore children’s everyday lives. To appear in Childhood. Published online 5 April 2012. DOI: 10.1177/0907568212440014

We describe a novel approach to experience sampling as a response to the challenges of researching the everyday lives... more We describe a novel approach to experience sampling as a response to the challenges of researching the everyday lives of young children at home. Parents from eleven families used mobile phones to send us combined picture and text messages to provide ‘experience snapshots’ of their child's activities six times on each of three separate days. We describe how the method aligns with an ecocultural approach, illustrate the variation in children’s experiences and provide sufficient detail for researchers to adapt the method for the purposes of collecting data in other contexts. We summarise the benefits and shortcomings from the perspectives of families and researchers.

Notes sur la captation de la main-d'oeuvre enfantine dans la région de Kayes, Mali (1904-1955)

by Marie Rodet

Journal des Africanistes, Tome 81, Fascicule 2, 2011, numéro thématique: Migration dans l'enfance, migrations de l'enfance, Regards pluridisciplinaires

Mots-clefs: Mali, Kayes, fin de l'esclavage, droit de tutelle, main-d'oeuvre enfantine, enfants confié-e-s, petites... more Mots-clefs: Mali, Kayes, fin de l'esclavage, droit de tutelle, main-d'oeuvre enfantine, enfants confié-e-s, petites bonnes, mise en gage


Keywords: Mali, Kayes, end of slavery, custody rights, children workforce, fostered children, pawnship

The Challenge of Childhood

by Nick Lee

An old paper asking why childhood often confuses the adult world

Newsletter Nº 36, febrero de 2012 | AFIN, INFANCIAS & FAMILIAS | ENFERMERÍA Y NIÑAS Y NIÑOS EXPÓSITOS EN EL HOSPITAL DE LA SANTA CREU DE BARCELONA

by AFIN Barcelona

Dirección Newsletter: Esther Grau, Diana Marre y Beatriz San Román
Redacción de los contenidos de este número: Roser Valls Molins
Documentación: Anaïs Vidal
Formato y maquetación: Sofía Gaggiotti
Difusión: Maria Galizia
ISSN: 2013-2956

El infanticidio era una práctica frecuente en las culturas antiguas que permitía eliminar a los hijos e hijas no... more El infanticidio era una práctica frecuente en las culturas antiguas que permitía eliminar a los hijos e hijas no deseados por ser ilegítimos, tener algún defecto físico o malformación o por causas económicas. El cristianismo dio una nueva concepción del ser humano, al reconocer la misma dignidad a todas las personas y condenar el infanticidio, potenciando a su vez la atención a las personas enfermas y más débiles (mujeres, ancianos y niños y niñas huérfanos o expósitos). Con la prohibición del infanticidio, las familias más desvalidas de la sociedad –y especialmente las madres que eran marginadas de la población, como las prostitutas, esclavas o enfermas mentales– optaban por dejar de forma anónima a sus bebés en instituciones para que estas se hicieran cargo de los mismos. Por coherencia con su carácter cristiano, estos establecimientos
daban respuesta a esta demanda social. Esta función de acogida de los niños y niñas abandonados también correspondió al Hospital de la Santa Creu.

Las niñas y los niños, actores sociales investigando y construyendo saberes

by María Claudia Duque-Páramo

"Why Do You Write Your Name Long Like That?" Language and Literacy In a San Francisco Kindergarten

by Espen Helgesen

Unpublished Master's Thesis, University of Bergen 2008

In this thesis I investigate the role of language awareness in early literacy, and argue that skills acquired when... more In this thesis I investigate the role of language awareness in early literacy, and argue that skills acquired when becoming literate can provide resources for manipulating social as well as textual relations. Based on ethnographic research among a group of 5- and 6-year old kindergartners in a San Francisco public school, I describe how the kids' personal names provided them with stable landmarks with which to explore both oral and written language. The capacity of names to facilitate communication was, however, countered by the equally powerful capacity of names to obstruct communication. Presenting the kids' personal names as examples of how language is often polysemic, or ambiguous, I argue that, even if the words they used did not have a singular meaning, they were often treated as if they did. I argue that there was a mismatch between two dominant perspectives on names among the kindergartners. Whereas some of the kids primarily used names as markers of identity, others challenged this stability by manipulating names in what I refer to as name joking; the playful manipulation of phonemes or letters for humorous effect. The assumed fixity of names seemed to make them particularly suitable for joking purposes, and a tension could often be found between the kids who considered names to be attached to individuals, and those who considered names to be detached or detachable from individuals. I argue that metalinguistic awareness, understood as the ability to attend to elements of language as objects, was a prerequisite for name joking. Rather than emphasizing this single skill, however, I argue that the kids' different perspectives on language was the product of a difference in communicative flexibility. As such, the kids who were able to switch between considering names to be attached and to be detached from people had a distinct advantage both in conversation and play among the kindergartners. Although teachers encouraged the kids to consider language to be a fluid and flexible tool, they also treated language as a direct reflection of reality by responding with sanctions when the kids used what was referred to as "bad words".

Re-Exploring Childhood Studies

by Anandini Dar

Co-authored with Patrick Cox

Childhood Innocence: Essence, Education and Performativity

by Robbie Duschinsky

Draft Only; forthcoming in Textual Practice

Building from an analysis of Wedekind and Foucault, it will be argued that modern childhood has been constructed as... more Building from an analysis of Wedekind and Foucault, it will be argued that modern childhood has been constructed as both natural and in need of cultivation and regulation. Through practices which seem to protect and nurture innocence, a particular account of the ‘natural purity’ of children can be materially and discursively produced without this seeming to be an artificial imposition. Moreover, I shall propose that imputing innocence to children allows a covert ontology to be constructed for particular groups of adults or society more generally; claims about the nature of the particular groups of adults, or society generally, can be smuggled into such accounts via claims about the child they may once have been. I shall depict innocence discourses as complex: capable of beneficial effects but also complicit in the production, stabilisation and occlusion of potentially troubling effects on relations of power, emotion and meaning in modern societies.

Emerging perspectives in the anthropology of childhood

by Sharon Attard

Do babies have culture? Anthropological Quarterly, Volume 77, pp167-179. George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research. 2004.

by Christina Toren

First Annual Black German Convention Report & Keynote Lecture Text

by Rosemarie Pena

Le traitement funéraire des enfants au premier âge du Fer en France non méditerranéenne

by Chloé Belard

The Battle for the Toybox: Marketing and Fun in the Development of Children’s Religious Identities

by Rebecca Sachs Norris

This is a chapter in The Study of Children in Religions: A Methods Handbook, Susan Ridgely, ed., NYU Press, November 2011.

Newsletter Nº 34, diciembre de 2011 / ADOPCIONES, FAMILIAS, INFANCIAS / V Congreso Internacional AFIN. La tríada en la adopción, el acogimiento y la reproducción asistida: el lugar de la familia de origen

by AFIN Barcelona

Dirección Newsletter: Esther Grau, Diana Marre y Beatriz San Román
Fotografías: Bruna Alvarez, Josep Arrandis y Fernanda Guerrero
Formato y maquetación: Sofía Gaggiotti
Difusión: Maria Galizia
ISSN: 2013-2956

En AFIN tenemos el firme convencimiento de que los resultados de las investigaciones no pueden quedarse en el ámbito... more En AFIN tenemos el firme convencimiento de que los resultados de las investigaciones no pueden quedarse en el ámbito académico, sino que tienen que ser trasladados no solo a quienes tienen la responsabilidad de definir políticas públicas sino también a las y los usuarios finales y ciudadan@s, por lo que uno de nuestros principales objetivos es la diseminación de los mismos, tanto a través de las Newsletters como de jornadas y congresos.
Por eso, dedicamos esta Newsletter a resumir las sesiones del V Congreso de AFIN, celebrado el 25 y 26 de noviembre pasado y titulado “La tríada en la adopción, el acogimiento y la reproducción asistida: el lugar de la familia de origen”. Con él cerrábamos el segundo año del proyecto de investigación “Adopción Internacional y Nacional: Familia, educación y pertenencia: perspectivas interdisciplinares y comparativas” (MICINN CSO2009-14763-C03-01 subprograma SOCI). Próximamente, los videos de las diferentes ponencias podrán visionarse en la web de AFIN: http://www.afin.org.es.

The Edge of Recalcitrance: playwork, order and chaos

by Arthur Battram