Outlining sociology’s distinctive contribution to childhood studies and our understanding of contemporary children and childhood, The Sociology of Children provides a thought provoking and comprehensive account of the connections between the macro worlds of childhood and the micro worlds of children’s everyday lives. Examining children’s involvement in areas such as the labour market, family life, education, play and leisure, the book provides an effective balance between understanding childhood as a structural phenomenon, and recognising children as meaning makers actively involved in constructing, co-constructing and reconstructing their everyday lives. Through the concept of ‘generagency’ Madeleine Leonard offers a model for examining and illuminating how structure and agency are activated within interdependent relationships influenced by generational positioning. This framework provides a conceptual tool for thinking about the continuities, challenges and changes that impact on how childhood is lived and experienced.

Bridging Structure and Agency: Bringing in Inter- and Intra-Generagency

Bridging Structure and Agency: Bringing in Inter- and Intra-Generagency

Bridging Structure and Agency: Bringing in Inter- and Intra-Generagency

Chapter Aims

  • To develop an understanding of why some childhood theorists view generation as an essential component of contemporary childhood.
  • To unpack and critically consider the claim that children are active agents.
  • To introduce and illuminate the concept of generagency and its two components: inter-generagency and intra-generagency.
  • To demonstrate the usefulness of generagency as a framework for understanding how children practise agency.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter you should:

  • Be aware of the complexity behind the claim that children are active agents.
  • Clearly understand the importance of generation in understanding childhood.
  • Have a general understanding of the concept of generagency and be able to distinguish between inter-generagency and intra-generagency.
  • Be able to apply generagency ...
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