ABSTRACT
Over the last three decades there has been a major shift in the way childhood and children’s place in society has been understood. In turn these shifts in conceptions of childhood have impacted on the ways in which research has been conducted with children and young people. It is now well acknowledged that ‘childhood’ is a culturally and historically specific institution (Ansell, 2005; Aries, 1962; Holloway & Valentine, 2004). It is also recognised that notions of childhood often relate to the global capitalist economy, and the subsequent ways in which the élite of different countries have been influenced by the ‘global export of modern childhood’ (Stephens, 1995, p. 15). Such a critique points to the Euro-centric construction of an idealised childhood and the Western export of standardised, ‘best practice’ for improving conditions for children around the world, irrespective of local community and cultural contexts (Nieuwenhuys, 2003; Stephens, 1995). Ideas about how children should live are often embedded within Western notions about what is considered acceptable, and unacceptable for the ideal childhood. Children living in poverty in developing country contexts, for example, are often cast within a Western centric lens as unfortunate and vulnerable ‘victims’ who need to saved and protected by adults. These constructions often deny the children themselves any agency and actually conflict with the lived realities of many children in developing country contexts, particularly those from poor and marginalised communities. This is because childhood and youth are not universal categories even within one geographical region such as Southeast Asia or the Pacific, and the expectations of how children should behave (including when and if they should work) vary between countries, and in relation to age, gender, ethnicity, religion, culture, geographical location and the socio-economic status of the child and their family.
