ISBN:
0-7456-1731-X
,
0-7456-1732-8
Language:
English
Pages:
231 S.
,
Ill.
Edition:
Reprint
Keywords:
Kind Kindheit
;
Neuzeit
;
Mittelalter
;
Sozialgeschichte
;
Geschichte
;
Soziologie
;
Soziale Bedingungen
Abstract:
In this lively and accessible book, Colin Heywood explores the changing experiences and perceptions of childhood from the early Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century. Heywood examines the different ways in which people have thought about childhood as a stage of life, the relationships of children with their families and peers, and the experiences of young people at work, in school and at the hands of various welfare institutions. The aim is to place the history of children and childhood firmly in its social and cultural context, without losing sight of the many individual experiences that have come down to us in diaries, autobiographies and oral testimonies. Heywood argues that there is a cruel paradox at the heart of childhood in the past. On the one hand, material conditions for children have generally improved in the West, however belatedly and unevenly, and they are now more valued than in the past. On the other hand, the business of preparing for adulthood has become more complicated in urban and industrial societies, as the young face a bewildering array of choices and expectations. A History of Childhood will be an essential introduction to the subject for students of history, the social sciences and cultural studies.
Description / Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements. Introduction. Part I: Changing Conceptions of Childhood. Conceptions of childhood in the Middle Ages. The quest for a turning point. Some themes in the cultural history of childhood. Part II: Growing Up: Relations with Parents and Peers. Parent--child relations: the first stages. Caring for Infants?. Parent--child relations during the second phase of childhood (c. 2 to 7 years). Relations with parents and the peer group during the third phase of childhood (7 to 12 or 14). Part III: Children in a Wider World. Children at Work. Investing in the Future. Conclusion. Notes. Select Bibliography. Index
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