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Article: Comparative History of Childhood
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society
- Author:
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Comparative History of Childhood
Comparative work on the history of childhood can be extremely revealing. It highlights areas in which otherwise different societies have shared experiences, partly of course because of the standard biological and psychological aspects of being or having a child. But it also shows the considerable possibilities for variation, based on different cultures, family structures, or economic contexts. The comparative study of childhood has taken on new importance in the contemporary world because of huge debates over the applicability of Western (or industrial) standards of childhood to societies with very different kinds of traditions and very different ...