1st Edition

The Routledge History of Childhood in the Western World

Edited By Paula S. Fass Copyright 2013
    548 Pages
    by Routledge

    552 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Routledge History of Childhood in the Western World provides an important overview of the main themes surrounding the history of childhood in the West from antiquity to the present day. By broadly incorporating the research in the field of Childhood Studies, the book explores the major advances that have taken place in the past few decades in this crucial field.

    The volume is composed of three parts. The first part explores childhood from the Ancient World through to the Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe. The second part examines the fundamental aspects of childhood and the life of children in the West since 1600. The essays address issues such as family, work, law, sexuality, and consumption. The chapters think beyond national and continental boundaries so that readers are informed about general trends in the West, while still alert to differences in gender, class, race, and time.

    The final part focuses on aspects of children’s experiences in the modern world. This section explains how childhoods have developed in distinct contexts and among specific children by using the growing literature on modern childhoods in various locales and at particular historical moments.

    Including essays on all the key topics and issues, The Routledge History of Childhood in the Western World will define how the history of children and childhood can best be understood, in the longue durée and comparatively, while still acknowledging the importance of and encouraging scholarship on specific groups, periods, places, and life course divisions. This important collection from a leading international group of scholars presents a comprehensive survey of the current state of the field. It will be essential reading for all those interested in the history of childhood.

    Introduction. Is There a Story in the History of Childhood? Paula S. Fass. Part I Childhood in the Ancient World, the Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe. 1.1 Childhood in the Ancient World up to Christianity. Keith Bradley 1.2. Childhood in Judaism and Christianity. Margaret King 1.3. Childhood in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe. Joanne Ferraro 1.4. Childhood and the Enlightenment: The Complications of Innocence. Larry Wolff Part II Creating Childhoods in the Western World Since 1600. 2.1. Parents and Children. Julia Grant 2.2. Children’s Work in Countryside and City. Colin Heywood 2.3. Children and War. James Marten 2.4. The Emotional Life of Children. Peter Stearns 2.5. Children and the State. James Schmidt 2.6. The Vexed History of Children and Sex. Beth Bailey. 2.7. Age, Schooling and Life Stages. Stephen Lassonde 2.8. Adolescence. Don Romesburg 2.9. The Physical Spaces of Childhood. Marta Gutman 2.10. Games, Toys and Play. Gary Cross 2.11. Children and Consumption. Daniel Thomas Cook 2.12. Picturing Children in the Modern West. Anne Higonnet 2.13. Children’s Literature. Maria Nikolajeva. Part III Special Children at Special Times or Places 3.1. Children in North American Slavery. Steven Mintz 3.2. Mixed Race Children in the American West. Anne Hyde 3.3. Infanticide and Abortion in Sweden. Bengt Sandin 3.4. Dependent Children, Social Welfare, and the Rights of Children. Ivan Jablonka 3.5. Children as Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Thieves. Timothy Gilfoyle 3.6. Scouting and Other Organizations for Children and Youth. Jay Mechlin 3.7. Children in the Great Depression in the United States. Kriste Lindenmeyer 3.8. Childhood in Nazi Germany. Dirk Schumann 3.9. International Child Saving. Dominique Marshall 3.10. Latin American Childhoods. Nara Milanich

    Biography

    Paula S. Fass is Professor of the Graduate School and Margaret Byrne Professor of History Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. Her publications include Children of a New World (2007), the Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society (2004), Kidnapped: Child Abduction in America (1997) and Reinventing Childhood After World War II, edited with Michael Grossberg, (2012).

    "Paula Fass has assembled a stellar cast of historians who from a range of perspectives explore the emergence of a modern and privileged status for childhood in the western world. Scholarly and accessible, the essays provide a compelling narrative of changes in ideas of childhood and in children’s lives." - Hugh Cunningham, Emeritus Professor of Social History, University of Kent, UK