The ontological practices of child culture

Abstract

This article asks questions about the ontology of child culture. It aims to position the concept of child culture at the forefront of theoretical research without creating a 'true' or singular definition of the concept. It is rather a conceptual exploration of partial consistencies of child culture in and through practices. The focus of the analyses is on five institutional cultural practices created for children: two children's museums, a science centre, a theme park and an amusement park. A cross-analysis of these practices provides the empirical material for proposing the notion of 'child culture multiple'.

The sex-map as didactic object: Ontonorms in Swedish sex education

“…In childhood studies, the work of Law, and Mol in particular, has been inspirational for studies of children and sexuality (Sparrman, 2018), child culture (Sparrman et al, 2016), education and aesthetic norms (Sørenssen and Franck, 2021), and bodies and food (Eßer, 2017). A focus on material objects and education provides insights into different adult ideals of what childhood is (Kraftl, 2006).…”

Children helping children? : Values and concerns in corporate charity

“…Social constructionism overall prevails in Child Studies, but there are exceptions where the notion of enactment is used (e.g. including but not limited to Eßer, 2017;Eßer et al, 2016;Lindgren et al, 2014;Samuelsson et al, 2015;Sparrman, 2014Sparrman, , 2015aSparrman, , 2020Sparrman & Sandin, 2012;Sparrman et al, 2016;Spyrou, 2019;Zotevska et al, 2021). "Social construction" refers to practices resulting in "durable realities" (Woolgar & Lezaun, 2015), whereas "enactment" emphasizes that these realities are precarious.…”

“…In her example, a medical diagnosis does not exist independently "out there" but comes into existence only through a variety of practices. Different practices enact different versions of atherosclerosis (Mol, 2002), salmon (Law & Lien, 2012), or child culture (Sparrman et al, 2016), and it then requires work to align these multiple, sometimes conflicting, versions of an object into a single object.…”

Culture by babies: Imagining everyday material culture through babies’ engagements with socks

“…In order to engage critically with the understanding of material culture in babies’ everyday lives, in this article I am drawing on the distinction between child culture and children’s culture, as formulated by Anna Sparrman et al (2016: 258). This distinction is important because it raises questions concerning whose practices we are focusing on when discussing material culture.…”