Global Childhoods

'An exciting and engagingly written book. The case studies are intriguing and the discussion of previous theories impeccable.' - Dr. Heather Montgomery, Reader in Anthropology and Childhood, The Open University 'This clear-sighted study of the history and present state of child-directed knowledge and practice should be compulsory reading for professionals working with children. Lawyers, doctors, psychologists, social workers, teachers -- not to mention lawmakers and bureaucrats -- will benefit by the challenge it offers to their most cherished and unexamined assumptions about the nature of childhood.' - Marian Quartly, Professor Emerita in Australian History, Monash University 'Using diverse examples and applied case studies from across the globe, the authors demonstrate the relationships between contemporary understandings of childhood and historical, social, political and geographic factors. Rich in theory and extensively researched, it is a provocative, engaging and accessible contribution to the field.' - Andrew Singleton, Associate Professor in Sociology and Social Research, Deakin University 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.