childhood studies and research challenges: estrangement and interdependence, complexity and interdisciplinarity

Abstract

Considering children as historical subjects of rights, social actors, producers of culture isresult of a social construction, based on research carried out by the field of sociology ofchildhood. The recognition that children construct culture is based on studies developedmainly in the 1990s, based on their historical, cultural and social dynamics (QVORTRUP;2002). Childhood studies have advocated that childhood might be recognized as aspecific group that produces and reproduces social life, that is, that children are historicaland social beings that establish relations with other children and with adults, as peoplewho participate in society, even if in a limited way, and are influenced by political,economic, cultural and technological events, among others. This conception, however, iscoexisting with other paradigms, such as paternalism, or with conceptions that weaken thecondition of child and maintain the idea of passivity and, therefore, of subordination to thepower of adults. Childhood, however, cannot be addressed only by what adult institutionsexpect, but recognized as a specific group that produces and reproduces social life.Researching childhood thus means dealing with complex relationships and content, whichcan both focus on the interdependence between children and adults, as well as evidence of the power relations established in generational relationships. Recognizing that is adultpeople who study childhood, research them means not ignoring that their actions comefrom the same multiplicity of factors present in social relations in general. Moreover,admitting that economic and political forces interfere with their daily lives, at the same timeas they establish boundaries between different groups of boys and girls, are thechallenges and defines interdisciplinary research paths.