The government of childhood
Subtitle: discourse, power and subjectivity
By: Karen M. Smith, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
Series: Studies in childhood and youth
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Springer
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9781137312266
Subjects: Children; History; Child rearing; Youth; Modern Civilization; EDUCATION / Philosophy & Social Aspects; FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Child Development; HISTORY / Social History; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Marriage & Family; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Children's Studies
Description: "It is widely acknowledged that the gradual emergence of the modern nation-state is associated with intensified interest in the government of childhood. Grounded in the Foucauldian literature on governmentality and drawing on a broad range of disciplines, this book examines the government of childhood in the West from the early modern period to the present. The book deals with three key time periods, examining shifts in the conceptualization and regulation of childhood and child-rearing between the late sixteenth and late eighteenth century; between the late eighteenth century and the mid/late twentieth century and the period from the late twentieth century to the present day. Building on the work of Chris Jenks, The Government of Childhood deploys the images of the Dionysian and Apollonian images of childhood as symbolic targets of power/knowledge and presents a third model - the Athenian child - as a symbolic target of modes of exercising power over the young that is grounded in children's capacity for agency"--
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note:; title: Introduction: Childhood, Discourse and Power1. Conceptualising Governmentality2. Subjects of Freedom3. Disciplining Childhood4. The Gentle Way in Child Government5. Governing the Responsible ChildConclusion.