Critical Childhood Studies and the Practice of Interdisciplinarity: Disciplining the Child

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This book analyzes different figurations of childhood in contemporary culture and politics with a particular focus on interdisciplinary methodologies of critical childhood studies. It argues that while the figure of the child has been traditionally located at the peripheries of academic disciplines, perhaps most notably in history, sociology and literature, the proposed critical discussions of the ideological, symbolic and affective roles that children play in contemporary societies suggest that they are often the locus of larger societal crises, collective psychic tensions, and unspoken prohibitions and taboos. As such, this book brings into focus the prejudices against childhood embedded in our standard approaches to organizing knowledge, and asks: is there a natural disciplinary home for the study of childhood Or is this field fundamentally interdisciplinary, peripheral or problematic to notions of disciplinary identity In this respect, does childhood force innovation in thinking about disciplinarity For instance, how does the analysis of childhood affect how we think about methodology What role do understandings of childhood play in delimiting how we conceive of our society, our future, and ourselves How does thinking about childhood affect how we think about culture, history, and politics This book brings together researchers working broadly in critical child studies, but from various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences (including philosophy, literary studies, sociology, cultural studies and history), in order to stage a conversation between these diverse perspectives on the disciplinary or (interdisciplinary) character of the child as an object of research. Such conversation builds on the assumption that childhood, far from being marginal, is a topic that is hidden in plain sight. That is to say, while the child is always a presence in culture, history, literature and philosophyand is often even a highly charged figure within those fieldsits operation and effects are rarely theoretically scrutinized, but rather are more likely drawn upon, surreptitiously, for another purpose.

Reviews

Critical Childhood Studies and the Practice of Interdisciplinarity is a welcome contribution to childhood studies scholarship, particularly because of its explicit embrace of the fields diverse epistemological practices and commitments. Its wide-reaching scope attests to the importance of children and childhood across multiple disciplines, and each chapters extensive bibliography represents a network of connected resources to facilitate and anchor ongoing critical engagement from readers. The books central promise to explore the notion of disciplinarity itself surfaces across individual contributions, and the book may find especially relevant application within the childhood studies classroom. * The Lion and the Unicorn *
The growth of childrens studies and the clustering of disciplinary interests that underpin that growth are well served by this excellent and rigorously edited volume. As a scholar of film, politics and childhood, I found all the contributions relevant and insightful. Childhood and children collectively offer a profound challenge to academic knowledge, and these authors grasp it bravely. -- Stephanie Hemelryk Donald, University of Liverpool
With the increasing interest in child/childhood studies, the scholarsinthis edited collectionbrought together by Faulkner and Zolkoswill no doubt make an invaluable contribution to the field. With its critical interdisciplinary edge to theory and method, the book challenges taken-for-granted understandings of the child/childhood, highlights the exclusionary practices that have marginalized children and their contributions to society and knowledge-making, and points out the various ways in which the child/childhood have been utilized to maintain broader relations of power in cultures and broader society. -- Kerry Robinson, Western Sydney University

Author Bio

Joanne Faulkner lectures in philosophy and womens and gender studies at the University of New South Wales. Magdalena Zolkos is senior research fellow at the Institute for Social Justice, Australian Catholic University.