What's New in the New Social Studies of Childhood? The Changing Meaning of 'Childhood' in Social Sciences

INTER: Interaction, Interview, Interpretation, Forthcoming

43 Pages Posted: 17 Oct 2008 Last revised: 8 Dec 2008

See all articles by Olga N. Nikitina-Den Besten

Olga N. Nikitina-Den Besten

University of Northampton - Centre for Children and Youth

Date Written: October 15, 2008

Abstract

The article explores how towards the last decade of the twentieth century, children and childhood, from being on the margins of research in social sciences, appeared in its limelight. It examines, in particular, the emergence of the interdisciplinary approach called the 'New Social Studies of Childhood', its principal theoretical assumptions, as well as some of the wealth of research that appeared in the wake of the NSSC.

Among main theoretical positions of the NSSC are the view of childhood as socially constructed and the view of children as capable social actors (agents). These trends have, in turn, led to the appearance of the body of research into diverse childhoods, depending on the culture, class, gender, (dis)ability, and historical circumstances, with a primary focus on child-centered, child-friendly and child-empowering, participatory research methods. The core NSSC assumptions, critical and even revolutionary for their time, also nurtured what I call the 'geographical turn' in childhood studies, with a plethora of research (in particular, by human geographers in the UK and North America) on various localities where children's lives unfold and the ways in which children experience and negotiate these spaces and places.

Recent academic work, which is discussed in the last section of this article, revealed the necessity to move the field of childhood studies forward by challenging and reconsidering the major theoretical assumptions of the NSSC that have by now become commonplace. Some researchers strive to overcome the simplistic dichotomies in childhood studies by looking at new developments in philosophy and social theory, such as, for example, the actor-network theory or the complexity theory; while others call for research into the ethical and political implications of certain theoretical positions for children's lives. The article also considers the contradictory thesis about the 'disappearance of childhood' and proposes some perspectives for future research.

The article is given in two versions: English and Russian, both to be published in 'INTER': Interaction, Interview, Interpretation'. The article is illustrated by photos.

Keywords: debates in childhood studies, childhood as a social construction, children as social actors, disappearing childhood, New Social Studies of Childhood, Children's Geographies

Suggested Citation

Nikitina-Den Besten, Olga N., What's New in the New Social Studies of Childhood? The Changing Meaning of 'Childhood' in Social Sciences (October 15, 2008). INTER: Interaction, Interview, Interpretation, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1285085

Olga N. Nikitina-Den Besten (Contact Author)

University of Northampton - Centre for Children and Youth ( email )

United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.linkedin.com/in/olgadenbesten

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