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childhood taking some steps towards the in terms of cultural differences, on the one
integration of the concepts competition, con- hand, and processes of ‘universalization’
flict, and cooperation. One – even if only one (such as the idea of children’s rights) on the
– of the ways in which greater theoretical other, will, particularly in a globalizing
coherence and creativity in the sociology of world, remain an important topic of child-
childhood could be encouraged would be to hood sociological theory and research.
turn towards a greater utilization of this con-
ceptual triad, because attention to all three
would encourage a broader range of concep- NOTES
tualizations. For example, there is a tendency
in most of the literature to think in terms of 1 The West Wing, Season Six, Episode 17
competition and conflict, but with little ‘A Good Day’, 2 March 2005.
explicit attention paid to cooperation, espe- 2 With the qualification that whether and how
cially between the generations. these shifts have been translated into actual changes
in children’s everyday lives is a separate, empirical
Sociological research into childhood often
question.
shows clearly that the experiences of child- 3 There are clearly arguments for returning to
hood are only possible with significant Park’s and Burgess’ original four-fold distinction and
degrees of cooperation, even though the con- giving assimilation more specific attention (van
cept of ‘generational order’ tends to exclude Krieken, 2005), especially in the twenty-first century
world of global population flows and the instability
such a conceptualization. This includes
of multiculturalism and cultural identity generally;
cooperation amongst peers as well as cooper- but there is not the space to explore them here, so
ation with adults in the sense of real work this is another question with which research in the
contributions and competent social action. sociology of childhood could usefully engage.
The exact form taken by such arrangements 4 Also influential was Lloyd de Mause’s (1974)
The History of Childhood.
of generational cooperation are quite diver-
5 For another useful overview, see Alanen (2000).
gent across time, national and class contexts,
and cultures. It may consist simply of a mere
calculus to survive for adults and children
(Henderson, 2006; Lareau, 2003; Oleke et al., REFERENCES
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Abels, Heinz (1993) Jugend vor der Moderne.
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Alanen, Leena (1988) ‘Rethinking Childhood’,
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Alanen, Leena (1989) ‘Von kleinen und von
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Alanen, Leena and Mayall, Berry (eds.) (2001)
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arrangements that may be worked out. To Alisch, L. M. and Wagner, J. W. L. (2006)
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