Childhoods at the Intersection of the Local and the Global

by Twum-Danso Imoh, Afua; Ame, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780230342323
• ISBN10: 0230342329
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-11-27
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Childhoods at the Intersection of the Local and the Global examines the imposition of the modern Western notion of childhood, which is now deemed as universal, on other cultures and explores how local communities react to these impositions in various ways such as manipulation, outright rejection and acceptance. The book discusses childhoods in different regions of the world and boasts a range of contributors from several academic disciplines such as Sociology, Social Work, Education, Anthropology, Criminology and Human Rights, who are experts on the regions they discuss. The book argues against the notion of a universal childhood and illustrates that different societies around the world have different notions of childhood. This book is recommended reading for students, scholars and practitioners working with children in the Global South as well as internationally.

Author Biography

AFUA TWUM-DANSO IMOH is a lecturer in the Sociology of Childhood at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research interests include global and local constructions of childhood, children's rights in Africa and childrearing practices.


ROBERT AME is an associate professor of Human Rights and Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. His research interests include children's rights and youth justice. He is lead co-editor of Children's Rights in Ghana: Reality or Rhetoric?

Table of Contents

Introduction; A.Twum-Danso Imoh & R.Ame
The Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Product and Facilitator of a Global Childhood; A.Twum-Danso Imoh
Universalizing Early Childhood: History, Forms, and Logics; M.Tag
Early Child Development Policy: The Colonization of the World's Childrearing Practices?; K.Monaghan
The Rhetoric and Realities of Early Childhood Programmes Promoted by the World Bank; H.Penn
The Construction of the Child in Ghanaian Welfare Policy; S.Laird
'This is how we do it here'. The Persistence of the Physical Punishment of Children in Ghana in the Face of Globalizing Ideals; A.Twum-Danso Imoh
Making Gender and Generation: Between the Local and the Global in Africa; K.Wells
Caught up in Between Change and Continuity: Challenging Contemporary Childhood in Saudi Arabia; H.Khalifa
The Rites of the Child: Global discourses of Youth and Reintegrating Child soldiers in Sierra Leone; S.Shepler
Conclusion; R.Ame & A.Twum-Danso Imoh