Global Childhoods
Issues and Debates
- Kate Cregan - Monash University, Australia
- Denise Cuthbert - RMIT University, Australia
"An exciting and engagingly written book. The case studies are intriguing and the discussion of previous theories impeccable."
- Dr. Heather Montgomery, The Open University
- Professor Joy Damousi, University of Melbourne
Global Childhoods draws on the authors’ interdisciplinary backgrounds and original research in the fields of embodiment, theorisations of childhood, children's policy, child placement and adoption, and family formation. The book critically demonstrates how following from the modern construction of childhood which emerged unevenly from the late eighteenth century, the twentieth century saw the emergence of the conception of the normative global child, a figure finally enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The book offers a wide-ranging critical analysis of approaches to children and childhood across the social sciences. Through stimulating case studies which include the experiences of child soldiers, orphans, forced child migrants, and children and biomedicine, Cregan and Cuthbert critically test the notion of the ‘global child’ against the lived experiences of children around the globe.
Kate Cregan and Denise Cuthbert draw on and contributes to debates on children and the idea of the child in a wide range of disciplines: sociology, anthropology, education, children's studies, cultural studies, history, psychology, law and development studies. In its historical coverage of the rise of the concepts of the child and the global child, its critical engagement with the theorisation of childhood, and its detailed case studies, the book is essential reading for the study of children and childhood.
A welcome addition to the literature which is suitable for year one (and others) students who are learning about different cultures in their traditional contexts as opposed to within the UK.
Should add to the debate which considers the different experiences of children globally and what constitutes childhood.
Useful text for this level of study, particularly in relation to the construction of childhood and the tension between provision, participation and protection
I will be adopting as an essential text for my Children across the World module when it runs in 2015. I found this the most useful relevant text in terms of the way in which theory is illustrated by examples. I like the structure of the text and its interdisciplinary nature.
Critical analysis of this text draws on contributions and debates across the social sciences of approaches to children and childhood. Through stimulating case studies drawn from the lived experiences of children, the authors really support thinking surrounding the ‘notion’ of the ‘global child. A recommended read for the student undertaking studies in sociology, anthropology, education, children's studies, cultural studies, history, psychology, law and development studies. Essential Reading
Sage College Publishing
