Parenting After the Century of the Child

Drawing on the latest international research, this book examines ideas on parenthood and the 'globalization' of childhood to provide new insights into the dynamics and ambivalences involved in their simultaneous reframing. This truly global volume will appeal to anthropologists and sociologists with interests in gender, childhood studies and the sociology of the family.

Bridging the gap between studies orientated around parenthood and those on the 'globalization' of childhood, Parenting After the Century of the Child provides a timely intervention to the scholarship. It explores in depth negotiations of travelling ideals on childhood, showing the power of institutional implementations that affect parenting practices. Drawing on the latest research conducted in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and South East Asia, this book examines ideas currently travelling across the globe within institutional settings, providing new insights into the dynamics and ambivalences involved in the simultaneous reframing of childhood and parenthood. This truly global volume will appeal to anthropologists and sociologists with interests in gender, childhood studies and the sociology of the family.

'This fascinating and rich collection offers a new perspective on how conceptions and practices of good parenting are shaped in the interplay between local cultures, institutional arrangements and practices and the impact of the circulation and transfer of international models. This book shows the contested and continually socially constructed nature both of parenting and of childhood. In a globalized context, tensions and contestations may appear both more evident and more dramatic.' Chiara Saraceno, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Germany 'This is a valuable contribution to understandings of parenting and childcare within families and in interactions between families and wider social and state institutions. The authors bring together insights from a wide range of cultural, historical and disciplinary perspectives in order to better understand the ways in which concepts of "good" parenting are constructed and transmitted across time and place in a globalizing world.' Rebecca Kay, University of Glasgow, UK

Autorentext

Tatjana Thelen is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Haldis Haukanes is Associate Professor in the Department of Education and Health Promotion at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Inhalt

Chapter 1 Parenting After the Century of the Child, Tatjana Thelen, Haldis Haukanes; Chapter 2 Parenthood and Childhood, Haldis Haukanes, Tatjana Thelen; Part I Travelling Ideals about Relatedness, Family and Parenting Obligations; Chapter 3 What is a Good Mother? Historical Shifts, Divergent Models in Urban Japan, Susan D. Holloway, Yoko Yamamoto, Sawako Suzuki; Chapter 4 No School without Foster Families in Northern Benin, Erdmute Alber; Chapter 5 Growing up Nuclear? Young Czechs' and Tunisians' Visions of Family, Parenting and Gender Roles, Haldis Haukanes, Marit Tjomsland; Part II Negotiating Responsibilities in Education and Child Welfare Institutions; Chapter 6 Child Welfare,'In the Best Interests of the Child', Tiffany McComsey; Chapter 8 Privatizing Parenthood - Modernizing Childhood? Paradoxes of School Reform in Eastern Germany, Tatjana Thelen; Chapter 9 Representations of Parenting Practices of Native and Immigrant Families in Institutional Care Service Settings in Barcelona, Marta Bertran; Part III Translating International Legislation to Local Settings; Chapter 10 Custody and Coming of Age, Randy Frances Kandel, Anne Griffiths; Chapter 11 Child Rights or Wrongs, Mai Bente Snipstad, Gro Th. Lie, Dagfinn Winje;