Reconsidering Childhoods: Critiques, Histories, and Justice

For over 30 years, critical scholars and educators have challenged the dualistic thinking that reinforces an adult/child dichotomy and the normative bias in human development knowledge. Yet those who are younger continue to be represented, often controlled, and objectified by self labeled adults, who purposely or unconsciously function as developmental expert, all knowing educator, academic, researcher, theorist, parent, politician, or capitalist. Further, in the 21st century, globalization and technology, along with neoliberal capitalism, are changing the world at the speed of light and in ways that no one can predict for themselves or children. This book overviews this history as well as the contemporary global colonial past present in which those who are younger live. Further, the states of marginalization, invisibility, and erasure experienced by many are discussed. From within this context, various critical practices are emerging that attempt to create conditions that would increase equity and justice for children. This volume discusses these actions including acknowledging that justice for those who are younger will likely never occur without attention to the more than human and the world more broadly. See more