Feminism and the Politics of Childhood

Feminism and the Politics of Childhood offers an innovative and critical exploration of perceived commonalities and conflicts between women and children and, more broadly, between various forms of feminism and the politics of childhood. This unique collection of 18 chapters brings into dialogue authors from a range of geographical contexts, social science disciplines, activist organisations, and theoretical perspectives. The wide variety of subjects include refugee camps, care labour, domestic violence and childcare and education.

Chapter authors focus on local contexts as well as their global interconnections, and draw on diverse theoretical traditions such as poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, posthumanism, postcolonialism, political economy, and the ethics of care. Together the contributions offer new ways to conceptualise relations between women and children, and to address injustices faced by both groups.

Praise for Feminism and the Politics of Childhood: Friends or Foes? ‘A timely intervention ... This volume holds a wide appeal—speaking on the one hand to activists, policy-makers and governmental and non-governmental organisations concerned about issues related to childhood and gender, and on the other, to academic disciplines like childhood studies, women’s and gender studies, cultural studies, post-colonial studies, sociology and politics.’ Children & Society 'One of the few works devoted to attempts to forge a dialogue between feminism and childhood research.'
Sociology of Power
'A politically, academically and ethically astute book.' International Research Society for Children’s Literature

‘This provocative and stimulating publication comes not a day too soon.’ ‒ Gerison Lansdown, Child to Child ‘Feminism and the Politics of Childhood: Friends or Foes? asks an impossible question, and then casts prismatic light on all corners of its impossibility.’
‒ Cindi Katz, CUNY ‘A smart, innovative, and provocative book.’
‒ Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Syracuse University 'An indispensable contribution to the debate on childhood and gender.' Sociedad e Infancias

'One of the strengths of the book lies in the variety of contributing authors. ... The book serves as a form of resistance not only to patriarchy but to neoliberalism. [It] provides ... an alternative framework to think further about the interrelation between women and childhood studies. ... The book is a reminder that both feminism and childhood studies are political acts that aim to challenge social injustice.' Policy Futures in Education
'Fabrizia Serafim welcomes the collection for providing a range of alternative theoretical constructs and practical examples of thinking relations with complexity.' LSE Review of Books
'It is a rare book that can be said to inaugurate a new field of study. Feminism and the Politics of Childhood: Friends or foes? raises and addresses issues so pressing that it is surprising they are not already at the heart of scholarship on feminisms and the politics of childhood. It draws on an impressive range of empirical, theoretical and practice material from different perspectives, disciplines and everyday practices. In doing so, it enables potentially antagonistic positions to be aired and refuses to reduce women and children to equivalences or to flatten differences between women and between children. Together, the chapters make a cutting-edge, critical intervention that readers will enjoy dipping into, but that will repay close and repeated reading.' ‒ Ann Phoenix, UCL

'Insightful, provocative and evocative, Feminism and the Politics of Childhood: Friends or foes? challenges readers to grapple with the uneasy ideological and political tensions arising whenever those positioned as children and as women commingle. Rosen and Twamley, together with a strong array of contributors, invite active and sometimes messy engagement with varieties of feminisms and childhoods so as to enable public, connected and relational ways of knowing, telling and doing. A must-read for scholars and activists alike.' - Daniel Thomas Cook 'This ground-breaking work straddles the divide between theory, practice, and activism. By reflecting on the mother-child relationship and analyzing care work in capitalist and patriarchal societies, this book provides a powerful counter-narrative to the pervasive individualistic social ontology that permeates Western academia. The authors’ approaches are sensitive to the legacy of colonialism and the divides between feminism/s. The ideas and problems explored in this book are both inspiring and provocative.' - Rachelle Bascara

'This book is genuinely ground-breaking. It spans disciplinary boundaries to foreground fundamental issues of care, relationality and justice, forging fresh and exciting new directions in conceptual theory and political action. The dialogical style and collaborative ethos underpinning its production is original and uplifting, making it an expansive, ambitious and an exhilarating read.' - Val Gillies
'This stimulating book explores the relations between women and children in a contextualised way that is conceptually challenging and methodologically innovative. The product of a subtle and rich intellectual debate, the book fully embodies its driving inspiration: to foster a 'generous encounter' of mutual learning between feminism and childhood studies, and between academia and the world of political and social activism.' - Ana Vergara Del Solar