About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the idea that childhood is socially constructed, focusing in particular on: (i) the extent to which race and gender are socially-constructed; (ii) the influence of the liberation movements in general, and of feminism in particular, on the development of childhood studies; (iii) the emergence of childhood studies as an academic discipline in the late 1980s, and the growing interest in the rights of children more generally at precisely the same time, e.g. UN Convention of the Rights of Children; (iv) the centrality of the idea that childhood is at least partially socially constructed; and (v) the work of Philippe Ariès (1914-84), including his (erroneous) claim that childhood 'did not exist' before the Middle Ages in Europe.

About the lecturer

Professor Karen Wells is Professor of Human Geography at Birkbeck, University of London. Her research is focused on childhood studies, particularly the formation of childhood and the impact of inequality on children’s lives. She is author of The Visual Cultures of Childhood (2020), Childhood Studies: Making Young Subjects (2017), and Childhood in Global Perspective (2014).