This article deals with the representation of children in the Swedish welfare state, and particularly how children and parents living in economic hardship are positioned in issues regarding financial aid. According to Article 12 in the UNCRC, children have a right to be heard "in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the…

This interdisciplinary article draws upon human geography to bring fresh new perspectives to the relationship between two commonly conflated concepts: "childhood" and "nature". Childhood studies scholars have gone a long way towards retheorizing childhood beyond the "natural" and the "universal" by pointing to its historical and cultural…

In Finland, the policies and practices in early childhood education and care (ECEC) have been characterized by a division into practices and forms of care for children under and over 3 years old. This study analyses the construction of space in the national and local level curricula for the very youngest children. These documents both present…

This article is based on a web-search commissioned by an international charity to review the work of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and charities which promote and support early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the global South. The article examines examples of such initiatives. It is suggested that there is…

With this year's Global Report on Child Labour, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopts a stance of victory. With confidence and pride, it announces that "the worldwide movement against child labour" led by the ILO itself has brought "the end of child labour--within reach". However, no convincing proof is given for this surprising…

This article focuses on the links between family income, deprivation as reported by parents and deprivation as experienced by children. Data are drawn from a survey of Norwegian families, in which low-income families are oversampled. Three areas of deprivation are explored: housing, consumption and subjective experiences. In each area, indicators…

This article focuses on a neglected topic in the historical sociology of childhood, namely health education, and explores a neglected theme, namely the gendered character of (re)constructions of childhood. Drawing on primary sources, the article argues that while health education for children played an important role in a broader set of British…

Notes the need to attend to the blurring of the category of childhood implicit in debates about topics such as children's interests and rights and criminalization of children. Outlines factors underlying a shift in the condition of contemporary childhood and children's social experiences. Argues the need to identify how children create and…

This article links research into constructions of childhood and child agency to anthropological studies of young people's informal adoption and state involvement in family arrangements. It analyses the life history of a young Peruvian woman who deliberately chose to move into an orphanage. The multiple points at which individual and family plans…

Examined extent to which children's expressed needs for information were met by their mothers in study of parental separation and divorce in Botswana. Found that most children were dissatisfied with informational support received from their mothers. Mothers' ability to meet children's communication needs were influenced by their perceptions of…

Discusses Foucault's notion of "heterotopia"--real places but which exist unto themselves, such as a floating ship. Considers data on children's use of computer and video games to apply "heterotopia" to children's everyday social lives. Argues that childhood is subject to increasing boundaries, and that children create…

Analyzes the position of British schoolchildren as voiceless participants in a system that is changing to accommodate the needs of the market, the community, and concerns over behavioral and curricular standards. Considers the nature of curriculum and organizational changes and initiatives that may reverse the trend. (JPB)

Draws on research on families of seasonal migrant laborers in Mexico to consider the role of work in socializing children growing up in extreme poverty. Argues migrant work represents an effective form of socialization that prepares children for their future. Discusses whether minimum employment age should be raised from 8 to 14 years and the…

Research on childhood disability views disabled children as passive and dependent and excludes the voice of disabled children themselves. Because research has been preoccupied with impairment, vulnerability, and service usage, it has concealed disabled children's role as social actors. New approaches to disability and to childhood are needed to…

Estimated the number of Brazilian children under 14 whose mothers are HIV-positive, living with AIDS, or dead due to AIDS. Found that of the 210,150 children, 17,600 were HIV-positive Findings underscore the urgent need for new programs to increase the longevity of persons with AIDS and to decrease the likelihood of child displacement and severe…