ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the fundamental principles of sociological thought, and explores the key dimensions of inequality which shape early childhood experiences. It outlines the theoretical framework for the book, which draws on poststructuralist feminism, critical pedagogy and social psychology. Lastly it looks at how the birth of a baby can be seen not as an unfolding of biological inevitability, but an immersion of that child into a complex human environment, and the cascade of processes that results.
