East African Childhood

Three stories of growing up in East Africa, as experienced and seen through the eyes of three different individuals.

This account of traditional education among the Chaga, a Bantu-speaking people of Tanzania, was one of the earliest studies of indigenous education. The first part of the book is an historical survey of existing literature on the subject in English, French and German; the second and main part of the book is a description of the informal education of the Chaga child in the family; the self-educative process in play group and age class; the formal training received during the rites leading up to circumcision, initiation and the preparation for marriage; and the changes in relationship between parents and children as they grow older, from the infant stage of biological dependence to the point at which the child fills the place occupied by the parent through descent, inheritance and succession. Psychological, anthropological, linguistic and pedagogical problems are discussed, including the development of speech during infancy, the extension of classificatory terms in the kinship group, the significance of the rites of development, and the differentiation of behaviour according to age, sex and rank of the children by means of taboos, punishments, songs and proverbs. The third part of the book offers practical conclusions from this study of indigenous education, in particular with regard to education policy, teaching methods and school organisation in Tropical Africa.

This book deconstructs Eurocentric narratives and showcases local voices to re-examine childhood in Eastern Africa. Moving away from portrayals of eastern African childhood as characterised by want, the author argues for a differentiated and pluralist nature of the eastern African childhood. Taking a chronological approach, the author provides a multidisciplinary critical reading of Africanist research on childhood in eastern Africa, drawing from anthropological and cultural studies, while examining writings from the pre-imperial and colonial periods. Moving into the contemporary period, the book reveals the continuity, tensions and ruptures of these portrayals in humanitarian, legal, and journalistic discourses, before exploring postcolonial writings on childhood in works by Eastern African novelists. Based on such a multidisciplinary perspective, this book will be of interest to scholars of African literature, eastern African history, critical childhood studies, museums and Africanist epistemologies.

With a new introduction by Sally Falk Moore.

What does it mean to be a child in Africa? In the detached Western media, narratives of penury, wickedness and death have dominated portrayals of African childhood. The hegemonic lens of the West has failed to take into account the intricacies of not only what it means to be an African child in local and culturally specific contexts, but also African childhood in general. Challenging colonial discourses, this edited volume guides the reader through different comprehensions and perspectives of childhood in Africa. Using a blend of theory, empiricism and history, the contributors to this volume offer studies from a range of fields including African literature, Afro-centric psychology and sociology. Importantly, in its eclectic geographical coverage of Africa, this book unashamedly presents the good, the bad and the ugly of African childhood. The resilience, creativity, pains and triumphs of African childhood are skilfully woven together to present the myriad of lived experiences and aspirations of children from across Africa. As an important contribution to African childhood studies, this book has the potential to be used by policymakers to shape, sustain or change socio-cultural, economic and education systems that accommodate African childhood dynamics and experiences at different levels.

This compelling new book offers a unique global perspective on children’s lives throughout the world. It shows how the notion of childhood is being radically re-shaped, in part as a consequence of globalization. Taking an engaging historical and comparative approach, the book discusses wide-ranging issues such as children and war, child labour and young people’s activism around the globe. Important themes considered include: How children are constituted as raced, classed and gendered subjects; How family policy results in some kinds of family being labelled as normal and others as deviant, and how this impacts in children; How children’s involvement in war is connected to the globalization of capitalism and organised crime; How school and work operate as sites for the governing of childhood. This book will be of great value to students and scholars in the fields of sociology, social policy and development studies. It will also be a valuable companion to practitioners of international development and social work, as well as to anyone interested in childhood in the contemporary world.