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sociological studies also point to the cooper- on (Bradshaw and Mayhew, 2005; Qvortrup,
ation between age groups, without which the 1998; Sgritta, 1996).
daily practices of ‘growing up’ could not be ● In a historical and constructivist approach, one
realized, even though the arrangements of analyzes discourses and practices concerning
childhood, including the construction of expertise
such cooperation may be quite divergent at
and scientific knowledge concerning children,
different times and across national as well as
and the emergence of particular strategies of
class cultures.
governance in relation to childhood (Alanen,
In the next section we will examine some
1989; Ambert, 1986; Best, 1990; Bühler-
of the main research themes in contemporary Niederberger, 1998; Donzelot, 1979; James et al.,
sociological studies of childhood, but with a 1998; Nelson, 1986; Zelizer, 1985).
view to seeing how they might usefully be ● In an ethnographic approach one studies interac-
re-thought in terms of the concepts competi- tion and communication in children’s everyday
tion, conflict, and cooperation. Different the- experiences, in the family and at school, on the
oretical orientations and empirical concerns street, among peers, at play, etc. (Alanen and
generate differing degrees of attention to all Mayall, 2001; Breidenstein and Kelle, 1996;
Corsaro, 1992). 5
three, and we will suggest considering that
there may be conceptual advantages to be It is now fair to say that there are a number
gained in a relatively diverse field of socio- of analyses of childhood that make produc-
logical research by making the treatment of, tive use of key concepts and debates in soci-
and linkages between, all three concepts more ological theory, which play a significant role
explicit. in establishing the research agenda in the
field. Different authors have established a
variety of connections between studies of
childhood and the broad range of theoretical
THEORY AND RESEARCH IN orientations in economic, political, and
CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGIES OF cultural sociology, the work of feminist
CHILDHOOD theorists, Foucault, Lefebvre, Luhmann,
Latour and actor-network theory, complexity
The sociology of childhood has been charac- theory, Elias, Beck, Deleuze, and Guattari,
terized by an initially very enthusiastic and others. In Germany, for example, an
embrace of social constructionism, theories attempt has been made to reconcile the
of action, and ethnomethodology. As Alanen concept of socialization with the social con-
put it, childhood was and is, structionist and ethnographic approaches
(Bühler-Niederberger, 2005), by drawing on
… the ever-constituted result of decisions and the idea of ‘self-socialization’, initially for-
actions of particular historical social actors, in the
economical, political and cultural struggles that mulated by Luhmann (1994) as a logical
potentially concern the whole spectrum of their consequence of the argument in systems
interests. To account for childhood then calls for theory that psychic systems (like any other
analyses of these broad social processes that in system) have to be conceived as autopoietic
their interaction come to constitute – rather than systems which are not influenced directly by
deliberately aim to constitute – social practices that
define childhood. (1988: 64) their environment, but develop in a self-refer-
ential way, according to their own logic of
Against this background, it is possible to operation (see also Krappmann, 2002;
distinguish roughly three different theoretical Zinnecker, 2000). There are certainly
approaches: resources in place for a robustly theoretical
sociology of childhood.
● In a structural approach one studies statistical Having said that, we must recognize that
distributions of poverty, wealth, life chances, sociological studies of childhood tend to
health conditions, educational outcomes, and so retain a relatively ‘light’ relationship with the