Not so ‘new’? Looking critically at childhood studies

Abstract

The ‘new’ sociology of childhood emerged over 20 years ago, arguing for the social construction of childhood to be acknowledged and for the recognition of children and young people's agency and rights. Other disciplines joined this growing academic area, from children's geographies to law, so that the phrase ‘childhood studies’ has become a popular label. Policy and practice both influenced, and were influenced by, childhood studies, particularly in relation to promoting children's rights. This paper provides an insider's critique of the current state of childhood studies, with attention to theoretical challenges and its applicability across Majority and Minority Worlds. From a childhood studies’ perspective, the paper suggests the potential of notions of relations, relationships and reciprocity.

Keywords:

• children
• childhood
• children's rights
• childhood studies
• Majority World
• Minority World

Acknowledgements

We thank B. Mayall and C. Philo for their insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (RES-451–26-0685) and the content was also influenced by the International Academic Network ‘Theorising Children's Participation: learning across countries and across disciplines’, funded by The Leverhulme Trust.

Notes

At times, the paper solely uses ‘children’, when referring particularly to childhood studies, children's rights, and when using quotations. More generally, ‘children and young people’ is used to refer to the age group under the age of 18, as defined by the UNCRC. This phrase aims to respect that many older children prefer the category ‘young people’ to ‘children’.