indicators and methods - to study childhood in the center of social and economic transformation in...
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Indicators and methods
- to study childhood in the center of social and economic transformation in China
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• The applicability of western
theories, concepts and indicators of childhood to China
• What terms and methods can be used to capture phenomena across cultures?
• Some of the structural and material conditions that could turn into challenges for a comparative study
• The potential of a Grounded Theory approach to comparison
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A model for interpretative comparative analysis
Level of
observation
Intention: Childhood as
preparation
Child rearing ideas and practices
and education.
Ambitions and aspirations
Reception: Childhood as a condition.
Social practices, status of childhood and
children’s competence.
Level of
analysis
Comprehension:
Structural and material conditions
as well as symbolic carrying
capacities in light of tradition,
present constraints and anticipation
of the future
Explanation:
Drawing of connections between the
local and the global context,
connections that are mediated by
reception and intention.
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Childhood as being or becoming at the level of observation
• Western theories of childhood have moved from seeing childhood as a stage of preparation to seeing childhood as a condidtion in which individuals participate, and finally a development towards including both considerations.
Question for comparison:Under what conditions do we see children as beings and what circumstances makes them in preparation, as thus seen as becoming?
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Childhood and the pace of social change
• The social construction of childhood depends upon traditions, on present possibilities and constraints, but not least upon a group’s conception of a future context of opportunity. The future, and childhood as preparation, becomes especially prevalent in times of rapid social change
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Economic socialization and the generational contract
• In the west: From seeing the child as an economic contributor to defining children as an emotional asset for the family (Zelitzer 1985)
For comparison: The structural condition of the generational dependency relation, as these are also transformed by economic transformations
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”They have to sacrifice so much” Chinese mother
• A childhood transformed from playful and innocent, to a childhood of high demands on preparation (qualification exercises) and time
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The impact of consumer society on socialization
• Western theory is again spit about the impact of growing up in a consumer society: Is it a context where powers, rights, comptetences etc. are played out, and debated vs. A devious force that children need protection from?
• Chinese scolars point to the same diverging attitudes.
• In both east and west the conclusions are mostly drawn from data on familie’s and children’s consumption patterns, actions and potential buying power.
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The impact of consumer culture can be found in every day life
• What about the child’s position within the family and conditions for economic socialization and participation in consumer affairs?
• The experiences must be studied in the context where they are made and we can then develop links between experience and explanation locally.
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Children as victims of globalization?
• Media studies: • The vulnerable child
and the brutal world OR
• The technological world and the smart child.
• Reception of globalized commercial messages must thus be interpreted both on an individual and a cultural level.
• The mechanisms of the interplay between global and local significants can only be understood locally. Thus, comparison is again left to the level of comprehension and explanation.
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Let me repeat the model:Level of observation
Intention:
Childhood as preparation
Reception: Childhood as a condition.
Level of analysis
Comprehension:
Structural and material conditions as well as symbolic carrying capacities
Explanation:
Drawing of connections between the local and the global context, connections that are mediated by reception and intention.
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Comparison by way of Grounded Theory
• By using a GT approach, the unit for observation and comparison, the one element creating similarity between the cases is the phenomenon itself. The phenomenon (or the problem) is at the core of a GT approach as the stem from where theory is developed.
• Through a focus on the interaction with a phenomenon such as consumer culture, I am able to disclose local cultural norms, practices, child rearing ideas and strategies as well as symbolic carrying capacities of a local culture.
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• It will also allow for a discussion which places the phenomenon into a larger interacting context, through looking at e.g. interaction between social institutions.
• If such studies are done locally, the comparison must be done at the level of substantial theory, or theory which explains locally which factors, mechanisms and or conditions for a phenomenon to be the way it is.
• Western theories, concepts and indicators of childhood are not directly applicable to a Chinese context. But these theories sensitize the perception and guide the interpretation of general mechanisms or generic features.
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