The Sociology of Childhood as Scientific Communication

Observations from a social systems perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID3103149
AuthorsMichael King (0000-0003-4715-7171, University of Reading, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume14
Issue2
Pages193-213
Publication date2007-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChildhood (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0907-5682 • E-ISSN: 1461-7013
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0907568207078327
OpenAlexW2010850586
LanguageEN
Citations received39
References cited31

This article begins by identifying a close relationship between the image of children generated by several sociologists working within the new sociology of childhood perspective and the claims and ambitions of the proponents of children's autonomy rights. The image of the child as a competent, self-controlled human agent are then subjected to observation from the perspective of Niklas Luhmann's social systems theory. The new sociology of childhood's constructivist approach is compared and contrasted with Niklas Luhmann's theory of `operational constructivism'. The article applies tenets of Luhmann's theory, to the emergence of the new childhood sociologist's image of the child as a competent, self-controlled social agent, to the epistemological status of this image and, in particular, to claims that it derives from scientific endeavour. The article proceeds to identify two theoretical developments within sociology - sociology of identity and social agency - which have brought about fundamental changes in what may be considered `sociological' and so `scientific' and paved the way for sociological communications about what children `really are'. In conclusion, it argues that the merging of sociology with polemics, ideology, opinion and personal beliefs and, at the level of social systems, between science and politics represents in Luhmann's terms `dedifferentiation' - a tendency he claims may have serious adverse consequences for modern society. This warning is applied to the scientific status of sociology - its claim to be able to produce `facts' for society, upon which social systems, such as politics and law, may rely. Like the mass media, sociology may now be capable of producing only information, and not facts, about children

Autonomy · Epistemology · Ideology · International relations · Medical sociology · Politics · Social science · Sociological imagination · Sociological theory · Sociology · Sociology of law · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Children's Rights and Participation · Law · Philosophical and Historical Studies · Sociology and Education Studies

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