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Prout, A. and James, A.

A New Paradigm for the Sociology of Childhood? Provenance, Promise and Problems

Prout, A. and James, A., (1997) "A New Paradigm for the Sociology of Childhood? Provenance, Promise and Problems" from James, A. and Prout, A. (eds), Constructing and reconstructing childhood: contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood pp.7-33, London: Routledge ©

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Introduction

Note In such a collection as this, it is possible to select only a limited nwnber of contri­ butions. There are many working in this field who are not represented in this volume but to whom we are all indebted. In particular we would like to mention Judith Ennew, Pamela Reynolds and )iII Swart.

Chapter 1

A New Paradigm for the Sociology of Childhood? Provenance, Promise and Problems

References

Alan Prout and Allison James ARIES, P. 0%2) Centuries of Childhood, London, Jonathan Cape.

DE.NCZIN, N. (977) Childhood Socialization, San Francisco, )ossey-Bass.

DRRlTZEL, H.P. (Ed) (973) Childhood and Socialization, London, Collier-Macmillan.

GIDDENS, A. (1979) The Central Problems of Social Theory, London, Macmillan.

HOLT, ). (975) Escape from Childhood, Hannondsworth, Penguin.

MAcKAy, R. (973) 'Conceptions of Children and Models of Socialization', in DREITZEL,

H.P. (973) Childhood and Socialization, London, Collier-Macmillan. RICHARDS, M.P.M. (Ed) (1974) The Integration of a Child into a Social World, Cam­ bridge, Cambridge University Press. RICHARDS, M. and LIGHT, P. (Ed) (986) Children 0/ Social Worlds, Cambridge, Polity Press.

Introduction: The Nature of Childhood The title of this volume, Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood, captures the spirit within which it is conceived. First, we discussed in the introduction what we there called the 'emergent paradigm'. In this chapter we present it in precisely this light: an emerging and not yet completed approach to the study of childhood. Second, the title encap­ sulates what we feel to be the nature of the social institution of child­ hood: an actively negotiated set of social relationships within which the early years of human life are constituted. The immaturity of children is a biological fa