Globalization, History, Theory & Writing

The “Local” and The “Global” of Contemporary

Children’s Culture

Overview:

• This lecture will highlight:1. Contemporary children’s culture on both a local and

global scale2. How international migration (of more than just people)

affects children and their culture3. The challenges globalization presents to researchers

working with children4. The importance of context and ethnography to

conducting research with children

To do this we will unpack

1. Globalization2. The Three voices of CCC:

i. institutional (about children)ii. Institutional (for children)iii. Children’s voices

As seen through• The local and the global of children’s rights

• The local and the global of popular culture• The local and the global of research

methodologies

GLOBALIZATION

Is Really About Voice, Power, & Imperialism

Its a Loaded Term -As difficult to define as “culture”

BASIC METAPHORS:• Removal of barriers• The world as Infinitely smaller/ infinitely larger

EARLY INTERPRETATIONS• As a global village (McLuhan, 1962 )• As disjuncture: ie. “5 scapes” (Appadiurai,, 1990)• As advanced capitalism (Jameson, 1991)• Cultural Imperialism (Schiller, 1991)

MORE RECENT RE-INTERPRETATIONS• As hybridization ( Nederveen Pieterse, 1994)• As a process of negotiation (Storey, 2003)• As a space for resistance (Kahn & Kellner, 2005,

Buckingham 2010)

OUR definition of globalization

“The movement, interaction, sharing, co-option, and even imposition of economic goods and services, cultures, ideas, ideologies, people’s lives and lived experiences, food, plants, animals, labour, learning, play, practices, and knowledge(s) across time and space(s) previously thought to be impossible or at the very least improbable.” (Gennaro, 2010)

BUT:» ITS NOT A-HISTORICAL» IT IS NOT STATIC» IT IS NOT FINITE» IT IS NOT INNOCENT

Its Frames The Child’s Experience

“when the word globalizationIs substituted for the wordimperialism, or when theprefix ‘post’ is attached tocolonial, we are no longertalking simply abouthistorical formations, whichare still lingering in ourconsciousness”(Linda Tuhiwai Smith, 26)

History, Theory, & Writing

HISTORY:• Its about story telling-

– but who’s stories are being told?

THEORY:• Is about understanding the dynamics and relations of power in

society» ADULT vs CHILD» POWER vs POWERLESS» REPRESENTATION vs REALITY» FASLE GENEROSITY vs ADULT ALLIES

WRITING:• Is about naming the word and naming the world.

• The power of language

BUT IT CANT STOP THERE.

We must flip the map

History, Theory, & Writing - Flipping the Map

CHILDREN AS:

•HEROES IN HISTORY (Davis, 2010)

•CITIZENS IN THEORY & ACTION (O’Neil, 2010)

•WRITERS OF THIER OWN EXPERIENCE (Buckingham, 2010)

“

The Need for Praxis & Critical Theory in Children’s Studies

“ One cannot expect positive results from an educational or political action program which fails to respect the particular view of the world held by the people. Such a program constitutes cultural invasion...

The starting point for organizing the program content of education or political action must be the present, existential, concrete situation, reflecting the aspirations of the people.” (Paulo Freire, 95)

The Local and The Global

• The global does not eliminate the local or its importance

• Instead it reinforces the need for authentic dialogue between: dominant and subaltern, core and periphery, oppressor and oppressed, institutions and individuals, adults and children

• Its about –voice- access- agency-

The Three Voices of Contemporary Children’s

Culture

Where CCC happens

How children are talked about

How children unpack those

stories

The stories children are

told

THREE VOICES

1. Institutional Voices: about children

2. Institutional Voices: for children3. Children’s Voices

It is at the intersection of all three that we find access to contemporary children’s culture

Institutional Voices: about children

• Such as those documents produced by governments and NGOs (which talk about children)

• Often deal specifically with policy and implementation

• More recently have centered around UNCRC(United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child)

• While children are the subject matter, these text are often inaccessible (in language and access) to children AND exclude children from dialogue

Institutional- About Childrenexample: THE UNCRC

• Children in the global present are heavily represented in institutional texts

• HOWEVER: the representation is ceremonial, iconic, and empty

• The reality is what Macedo (2000) calls the cultural schizophrenia of marginalized groups: “being present and yet not visible,

being visible and yet not present.”

Institutional Voices for CHILDREN

• Often found in media and children's literature (and how these institutional ideas are explained to children)

• Are spaces both for dominant and alternate expressions

• Can best be explored using Kellner’s 3 pronged approach (2009) that incorporates:

» political economy, textual analysis and audience reception

SOCIETY

Children’s own culture

IDEOLOGIES

MEDIA/POPULAR CULTURE

CULTURAL INSUITUTIONS ADULTS

CHILDREN’S VOICES

• what children themselves have to say about their own lives

• Because of the imbalance of power - are often produced and published with ADULT ALLIES

• Are subversive• Children are the gate keepers to this information

»Therefore it require an ethnographic approach to research

»BUT one that must be ethical, anti-oppressive, and child centered

Summary

• To understand contemporary children's culture- requires an understanding of globalization.

• A three pronged approach that explores the three voices that encompass children’s lives

• A commitment to ethical, anti-oppressive, indigenous, and child-friendly research

• And a dialogue between the local and the global

This is globalization, history, theory and writing.