The Global History of Childhood Reader provides an essential collection of chapters and articles on the global history of childhood. The Reader is structured thematically so as to provide both a representative sampling of the historiography as well as an overview of the key issues of the field, such as childhood as a social construct, commonalities and differences globally, and why the twentieth century was not the "century of the child" for most of the world’s children. The Reader is divided into four parts:
- Theories and methodologies of the history of childhood
- Constructions of childhood in different times and places
- Children’s experiences in different times and places
- Usage of the past to articulate solutions to problems facing children today.
Topics covered include theories and methodologies in the global history of childhood, sources for writing a global history of childhood, education, gender, disability, race, class and religion, the individual in history and emotions, violence, labour and illiteracy. With introductions that contextualize each of the four parts and the articles, further reading sections and questions; this is the perfect guide for all students of the history of childhood.
Acknowledgements. Prologue Heidi Morrison. PART 1. Introduction. 1. The Discovery of Childhood" Philippe Ariès 2. Re-visioning Women and Social Change: Where are the Children? Barrie Thorne 3. Bastardy in South Germany: A Comment. Edward Shorter 4. Historical Perspectives on Illegitimacy and Illegitimates in Latin America. Nara Milanich 5. TheSun Match Boy and Plant Metaphors: A Swedish Image of a 20th-Century Childhood. Karin Aronsson and Bengt Sandin 6. Childhood Remembered: Parents and Children in China, 800 to 1700 Pei-Yu Wu 7. Infants, Children and Death in Medieval Muslim Society Avner Giladi 8. Introduction. Martha Saxton 9. Integrative Summary Irving Sigel PART 2. Introduction. 1. Crafting an Educated Housewife in Iran Afsaneh Najmabadi 2. Children in Chains: Juvenile Convicts Jan Kociumbas 3. African American Childhood Joseph Illick 4. Children and Childhood in World Religions Don Browning and Marcia Bunge 5. A History of Childhood and Disability Elizabeth Safford and Philip Safford 6. Invisible Hands: Child Labor and the State in Colonial Zimbabwe. Beverly Grier 7., Emphasizing the Islamic: Modifying the Curriculum of Late Ottoman State Schools Benjamin Fortna 8. Globalisation and Childhoods Peter Stearns PART 3. Introduction.1. A Most Remarkable Phenomenon: Growing Up Métis – Fur Traders’ Children in the Pacific Northwest Juliet Pollard 2. Growing Up Poor: Home, Street, and School in London 1870-1914 Anna Davin 3. Thank you for the Wonderful Book: Soviet Child Readers and the Management of Children’s Reading Catriona Kelly 4. Childhood and Child Labor in the British Industrial Revolution Jane Humphries PART 4. Introduction. 1. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 2. Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500 Hugh Cunningham 3. Children and the Politics of Culture in "Late Capitalism" Sharon Stephens 4. Lessons from the history of education for a ‘century of the child at risk Ingrid Lohmann and Christine Mayer 5. Passages to Modernity: Motherhood, Childhood and Social Reform in Early Twentieth Century Japan Kathleen Uno 6. From Full-Time to Part-Time: Working Children in Norway from the nineteenth to the twentieth century Ellen Schrumpf 7. Statutory Rape Prosecutions in California Mary E Odem 8. The Disappearing Child Neil Postman
Biography
Heidi Morrison
'An excellent and very useful addition to the literature in the history of childhood. It is thoughtful, well and broadly conceived, and addresses a need in the area of teaching the history of children and childhood.' - Paula S. Fass, University of California, USA
'Heidi Morrison makes a forceful case for the advantages of looking beyond the national boundaries usually adopted by historians of childhood, encouraging us to think in comparative and global terms. Her choice of material for this reader moves beyond the usual emphasis on the Western experience to include a wealth of examples from the rest of the world. No less importantly, her commentary draws attention to the insights to be gained from a historical perspective on the campaign launched during the twentieth century for the recognition of children's rights' - Colin Heywood, University of Nottingham, UK
"...The Global History of Childhood Reader is a highly recommendable collection of texts, summarizing and collecting aptly the classic and founding texts of the field while simultaneously drawing attention to neglected areas of childhood studies. The reader can thus serve not only as a textbook but also encourages further scholarship in (non-western) histories and cultures of childhood." – Marion Rana in Interjuli
“The volume’s broad aims—to spark greater study of non-western children, to interweave the stories of children from across the globe, to chart the historiographical developments of the field, and to provide college instructors with an engaging reader—match its ambitious scope (essay topics range from ninth-century China to contemporary globalization) and set it apart from recent volumes that focus on specific themes such as girlhood or war. The collection’s global scope and theoretical depth make this an excellent resource for scholars and for courses on the history of childhood.” -Jennifer Helgren in The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth
