Childhood: Changing and Dissonant Meanings
Contributors
Barrie Thorne
2
2009
The meaning of "childhood" has evolved over the last millennium from simply the state of being a child to a condition replete with dichotomies, ambiguities, ideological struggles, cultural variations, and historical transformations. Whether in law, policy, education, commerce, or research, the term is laden with tensions between risk and opportunity and protection and provision. Moving beyond such dichotomies permits an understanding of childhood that is shifting, complex, and located within specific historical and cultural contexts.
