Childhood Studies in South America: Research and Production in Childhood Sociology Perspective

Considering that the sociology of childhood has international production, and research from different countries has shown its studies in conferences and literature, little information about childhood studies has been found in South America. A brief literature review shows some texts, whose theoretical background is grounded for childhood studies. That seems to indicate the urgency for a broader knowledge about who, what and how childhood and children are investigated in South America’s Spanish speaking countries. This study uses a theoretical background of contemporary research and the new social paradigm, which recognizes children as social actors and participants in the environment they live. The new paradigm formulated by James and Proud in the 90s suggests childhood as a social construction and considers the childhood as an analysis variable, such as class, gender, and ethnicity. This work aims to understand the theoretical background, the methodological approaches, the theme choices, as well as to enlarge childhood studies references from the sociological perspective. This is a step to: (1) establish a dialogue with the Brazilian research, trying to understand the South American group; (2) understand the diversity in childhood approaches; (3) establish contact with researchers in order to develop partnerships and, later, a South American network of studies on children. This research has qualitative nature, through the research of literature, that use the childhood sociology in South America’s Spanish speaking countries via internet, visits and interviews were made. As for the analysis, data collected from interview, visits and the published works about childhood in the sociology of childhood perspective are considered. With this study, it is expected to understand the concepts, directions, literature choices, the paths chosen for studies of childhood and the childhood discourse present in publications.