The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings

By David F. Lancy

Book Overview

How are children raised in different cultures? What is the role of children in society? How are families and communities structured around them? Now in its third edition, this deeply engaging book delves into these questions by reviewing and cataloging the findings of over 100 years of anthropological scholarship dealing with childhood and adolescence. It is organized developmentally, moving from infancy through to adolescence and early adulthood, and enriched with anecdotes from ethnography and the daily media, to paint a nuanced and credible picture of childhood in different cultures, past and present. This new edition has been expanded and updated with over 350 new sources, and introduces a number of new topics, including how children learn from the environment, middle childhood, and how culture is 'transmitted' between generations. It remains the essential book to read to understand what it means to be a child in our complex, ever-changing world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1108931995
• ISBN13: 9781108931991
• Release Date: March 2022
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 584 Pages
• Weight: 2.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

This is an amazing book.

Lancy has some very fluid prose it doesn't read like a textbook at all. They're hundreds of wonderful citations that I've used in my research.