Searching for the Everyday in African Childhoods

Much attention on childhoods and children’s lives in sub–Saharan Africa has focused on marginalised childhoods or children living in difficult circumstances. In particular, there is an abundance of literature on: street children; child workers; the impact of HIV/AIDS on children; and children’s involvement in conflict. While the focus of these studies is valid, they have arguably contributed to portraying African childhoods in a rather negative and pessimistic light and contributed to reinforcing the binary between the Global North and the Global South. Such an overwhelming focus on the challenges that much of the continent and its peoples face is problematic not least because it becomes the focus of many of the publications that are produced about the continent which are, in turn, consumed not only by academic colleagues, but also by students and other members of the public. The resulting outcome, then, is that the knowledge that is produced and subsequently consumed about childhoods in sub–Saharan Africa is one which is characterised by ‘lacks’. My contribution to the dialogue will seek to highlight the need for more focus on everyday childhoods on the continent. Additionally, I will illuminate the existing work of scholars, primarily those based in African institutions, some of whom have long sought to explore the mundane and everyday aspects of a range of children’s lives but yet have not received adequate attention due to the inequalities that exist in the journal publishing industry which has created challenges for many African-based academics seeking to publish articles in top journals in the Global North. It is my hope that my contribution, overall, will facilitate the process of moving beyond a one-dimensional understanding of childhoods and children’s lives in the region as well as illuminate the important role African-based scholars have to play in that process.