Denna artikel diskuterar hur begreppen barnperspektiv och barns perspektiv definieras i nordisk forskning, och hur barns aktörskap framkommer i dessa texter. Tillämpningen av närliggande begrepp, som barns röster, inflytande och kompetens, belyses också. Artikelns utgångspunkt är att barnet föds som aktör: Barn, liksom vuxna, påverkar ständigt andra, direkt genom sina handlingar och indirekt som kroppar som befinner sig i andras närvaro eller tanke. Barn, liksom vuxna, är kompetenta och handlingskraftiga likaväl som sårbara och beroende av sina relationer. Artikeln lyfter fram vikten av att studera barns påverkan på vuxna och samhället som ett betydelsefullt kunskapstillskott. Den visar att forskningstexter som definierar begreppen barnperspektiv och barns perspektiv ofta positionerar barn som passiva, och som helt beroende av vuxenvärldens tolkningar och förståelse. Barns aktörskap belyses i mindre grad. Artikeln ger förslaget att barns aktörskap analyseras som två delar: barns inflytande och barns påverkan. Barns inflytande används för att undersöka barns reella inflytande på beslut och handlingar i sociala situationer, och barns påverkan för att studera barns direkta och indirekta påverkan på andra och den värld som omger dem.

The present study examines adult-child touch and its functions in a Swedish preschool (for 1 to 5-year-old children). The data are naturalistic observations and video-recorded data of everyday preschool activities. The study describes the frequently occurring functions of educators' haptic conduct (control, affectionate, affectionate-control, assisting and educative touch), discussing them in relation to the children's age, gender and type of the preschool activity. It reveals the complexity of touch, demonstrating that physical contact is used for a variety of purposes in the educators' daily work. The educators employed touch without force, and the children did not respond with explicit and forceful resistance (such as pushing back or otherwise protesting). Adult-initiated haptic behaviour served a continuum of social purposesfrom social-relational work, such as establishing and building affectively positive, caring, social relations, to practical and educative organisational efforts to manage the complex and busy preschool life. The distribution of adult-child touch categories brings attention to the bodily aspects of the early childhood educational setting and highlights some of the ways in which the requirements of the Swedish curriculum for Preschool and its focus on educare are actualised in the educators' embodied conduct.

In a continent where most countries exhibit low or "lowest-low" fertility, the experience of Sweden and its Nordic neighbors has become of interest to social scientists and policy makers concerned with the causes and consequences of low fertility. Nordic fertility can be labeled as "highest-low": the fertility of Sweden and its neighbors is below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman but still high as compared to many other developed countries. In the present overview, I provide insights into recent childbearing developments in Sweden and discuss the role of family policies in shaping childbearing behavior. I provide evidence that institutional factors appear to be far more decisive than cultural ones in influencing childbearing behavior, and demonstrate some specific impacts of family policies on childbearing dynamics.

Relational care, interpersonal intimacy and emotional attunement are crucial for children's development and wellbeing in ECEC. The present study examines how they are enacted in a Swedish preschool (for 1-5-year-olds) through recurrent adult-child physical conduct, i.e. affectionate and affectionate-controlling touch. The data consist of 24 hours of video-recorded observations of everyday activities. The study shows that educators' Affectionate-Comforting touch was used for emotion regulation as compassionate response to children's distress; Amicable touch engaged children in spontaneous affection; and, Affectionate-Controlling touch was used to mildly control and direct the child's bodily conduct and participation in preschool activities, or to mitigate the educators' verbal disciplining. The study demonstrates the emotional complexity of ECEC enacted through the practices of haptic sociality. It supports the holistic policies arguing that embodied relational care should be integrated in ECEC, contrary to ideas that connect professionalism with emotional distance and lack of physical contact.

This is the accepted version of a paper published in Women's Studies: International Forum. This paper has been peer-reviewed but does not include the final publisher proof-corrections or journal pagination.