Spinoza, Baruch

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) was a Dutch philosopher whose work offers a philosophical approach to childhood that functions as an alternative to traditional modern approaches. Recently, Spinoza has been taken up by post-Marxist philosophers such as Antonio Negri, feminist thinkers such as Rosi Braidotti and Genevieve Lloyd, Critical Disability theorists such as Hans Skott-Myhre and Anna Hickey-Moody and Cultural Studies scholars such as Cesare Casarino and A. Kiarina Kordela. Perhaps the philosopher most associated with Spinoza in the 20th century is Gilles Deleuze, who referred to Spinoza as the prince of philosophers.

Although his impact on childhood studies has been largely indirect, his influence can be seen in Deleuze’s influence on fields such as education, child, and youth care/youth work and child rights. In these areas of ...