Children, Childhood and Cultural Heritage

Children, Childhood and Cultural Heritagefocuses on the hitherto little explored historical and heritage representations of children and childhood. Children and teenagers may constitute up to or even more than 50% of any given society, and the range of their experiences are as determined by the spectrum of social, economic and environmental factors as those of adults. Yet children are rarely accorded the same powers, privileges and responsibilities as 'grown-ups', and their lives are always influenced by the expectations of the adult world about how 'children' and the period of 'childhood' may be defined and understood. As recent scholarship into the history of childhood has demonstrated, the cultures of childhood are rich and varied and worthy of study in their own right (as distinct from the histories of families or communities). There has been, however, little scholarly interrogation of the cultural heritage of children, and the representations of childhood, in discussions of museology, cultural heritage sites and material culture. This volume address that gap in the existing heritage literature, drawing upon international scholarship that is at the cutting edge of an expanding field on children, childhood and cultural heritage. Aimed at a wide audience of students, academics, and museum and heritage professionals,Children, Childhood and Cultural Heritageis the first such collection on this topic.