Rethinking childhood

Abstract

Van Ausdale reviews Rethinking childhood edited by Peter B. Pufall and Richard P. Unsworth.

42-1260 HQ767 2003-9389 CIP Rethinking childhood, ed. by Peter B. Pufall and Richard P. Unsworth. Rutgers, 2004. 292p bibl index afp ISBN 0813533643, $65.00; ISBN 0813533651 pbk, $23.95

Pufall (psychology, Smith College) and Unsworth (religion, Smith College) have compiled essays that address the many dilemmas of being young in contemporary society. Their 20 authors focus on the notions of children's voice and agency, paying particular attention to how children shape and influence both their own personal lives and the experiences of those close to them. Of particular interest are the final two chapters, centering on the ideologies of children's rights; their civic and political positions in society; and the continuing need to articulate children's rights in matters of their identity, cultural and national community membership, and personal autonomy. The book is a rich and useful source of commentary, policy, and philosophy on these and other difficult issues, among them poverty, education, religious participation, and family life. It devotes much of its attention to children in the US, but the chapters on rights and privileges accruing to children develop a more international perspective, inviting readers to more thoroughly scrutinize simplistic and outdated theories on the meaning of childhood. Understanding recent changes in views on children and childhood is of vital importance to scholars interested in these critical matters. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.-D. Van Ausdale, Syracuse University