Beyond heroes and villains: the rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africa

dc.contributor.authorSeekings, Jeremy
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-05T11:19:40Z
dc.date.available2016-05-05T11:19:40Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.date.updated2016-05-05T11:18:33Z
dc.description.abstractWriting about young people - or the 'youth' - in South Africa in the 1980s and early 1990s was dominated by representations of them as either the 'heroes' or 'villains' of political struggle. During the political transition, young people attracted a rush of attention as the source of a series of supposed social 'problems'. In much of the rest of Africa, also, scholars and the public alike have focused on the participation of children in civil war - as child-soldiers - or in other activities that are deemed subversive of social order. In South Africa, moral panics over the youth did not persist after the early 1990s, as public concern focused on more general social and economic problems. Ironically, perhaps, this has opened space for researchers to study the everyday worlds of ordinary young people. But the turn to the 'ordinary' in the study of childhood and adolescence certainly does not mean any neglect of processes of change. In South Africa, as in other parts of Africa, children are growing up in a period of rapid social and economic change, amidst continuing urbanization, deagrarianisation and educational expansion, changing households and kin relationships, new economic opportunities and prospects, and cultural globalization.en_ZA
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02533950608628717
dc.identifier.apacitationSeekings, J. (2006). Beyond heroes and villains: the rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africa. <i>Social Dynamics</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19458en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSeekings, Jeremy "Beyond heroes and villains: the rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africa." <i>Social Dynamics</i> (2006) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19458en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSeekings, J. (2006). Beyond heroes and villains: The rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africa. Social Dynamics, 32(1), 1-20.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0253-3952en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Seekings, Jeremy AB - Writing about young people - or the 'youth' - in South Africa in the 1980s and early 1990s was dominated by representations of them as either the 'heroes' or 'villains' of political struggle. During the political transition, young people attracted a rush of attention as the source of a series of supposed social 'problems'. In much of the rest of Africa, also, scholars and the public alike have focused on the participation of children in civil war - as child-soldiers - or in other activities that are deemed subversive of social order. In South Africa, moral panics over the youth did not persist after the early 1990s, as public concern focused on more general social and economic problems. Ironically, perhaps, this has opened space for researchers to study the everyday worlds of ordinary young people. But the turn to the 'ordinary' in the study of childhood and adolescence certainly does not mean any neglect of processes of change. In South Africa, as in other parts of Africa, children are growing up in a period of rapid social and economic change, amidst continuing urbanization, deagrarianisation and educational expansion, changing households and kin relationships, new economic opportunities and prospects, and cultural globalization. DA - 2006 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Social Dynamics LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2006 SM - 0253-3952 T1 - Beyond heroes and villains: the rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africa TI - Beyond heroes and villains: the rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19458 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/19458
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSeekings J. Beyond heroes and villains: the rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africa. Social Dynamics. 2006; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19458.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisherTaylor & Francisen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Social Science Research(CSSR)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourceSocial Dynamicsen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rsdy20/current
dc.titleBeyond heroes and villains: the rediscovery of the ordinary in the study of childhood and adolescence in South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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