Ambivalent Childhoods: A Perspective from Australia

This paper explores the ambivalent position of Australian childhoods within debates around globalised childhoods and critiques of methodological nationalism. I argue that structurally and discursively Australian childhoods reflect ambivalent social forces: i) as a product of post-colonial and colonising processes and as a colonising power; ii) of bearing the imprint of forms of cultural hegemony yet being a product of successful policies of multiculturalism; and iii) of being a beneficiary of policies of decommodification, but institutionally subject to marketisation (for example in systems of education). I discuss some of the implications of these tensions and ambivalences. At the level of theory, I explore the relevance and limitations of post-colonial theories, critiques of methodological nationalism and Southern Theory (Connell 2007) for understanding Australian childhoods. At the level of discourse and cultural contexts I examine how these ambivalences are used politically, by constructing a normative valued childhood, which serves as a political tool to scapegoat other childhoods. At the level of material distribution of resources, I discuss how these ambivalences mask substantive differences in life chances for different groups of children, this masking sometimes promulgated by childhood academics who focus on generation.