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Challenges and Opportunities in the Anthropology of Childhoods: An Introduction to “Children, Childhoods, and Childhood Studies”
Author(s) -
BLUEBONDLANGNER MYRA,
KORBIN JILL E.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.2007.109.2.241
Subject(s) - agency (philosophy) , rubric , possession (linguistics) , sociology , childhood studies , politics , gender studies , anthropology , developmental psychology , social science , psychology , political science , pedagogy , linguistics , philosophy , law
Anthropological attention to children and childhoods has had an uneven but lengthy history, both within the discipline and in interdisciplinary endeavors. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in the study of children, with work often carried out under the rubrics of “Childhood Studies” or the “Anthropology of Childhoods.” In these frameworks, children are at once developing beings, in possession of agency, and to varying degrees vulnerable. It has been a hallmark of anthropological work to recognize that these attributes manifest themselves in different times and places, and under particular social, political, economic, and moral circumstances and conditions. The five articles in this “In Focus” put forward some key challenges and opportunities for the anthropological study of children and childhoods.