Anthropology of Children and Youth Network
The Anthropology of Children and Youth Network brings together academics and practitioners engaged in research and work with children and youth. This EASA network stems from various European initiatives (particularly in the Netherlands) to bring together people working with children. This in turn resulted in the Anthropology of Children Working Group (www.anthropologyofchildren.net) established in June 2009. Over the past years we received many requests to included youth studies in our Working Group. It stimulated us to apply for a network status within EASA concerning the Anthropology of Children and Youth. The activities of the Working Group after integration in the EASA will be re-titled: Anthropology of Children and Youth Network. Hence below we refer to the Network instead of the Working Group.
Main website: www.anthropologyofchildren.net
Motivation
The impetus to form this Network (and the preceding Working Group) in June 2009, is the neglect of the voices, perceptions and realities of children and youth in research and practice. In anthropological writings, young people have commonly been depicted as objects rather than agents in processes of socialisation and, as a consequence, as unreliable or insignificant informants. It is our epistemological stance that children and youth are simultaneously socialised in their local social and cultural settings, and act as constructors of social environments and interpreters of culture. The concepts of children and youth are defined within their relational, cultural and local contexts in which age ranges and characteristics of who are considered to be children and youth vary.
Aims
- Through monthly seminars, the Network promotes child- and youth-oriented theory, methodology, and research ethics;
- The Network wishes to inspire (interdisciplinary) academic research and enhance dialogue with practitioners through joint research projects, publications and conferences;
- The Network is meant to promote children- and youth-oriented approaches to children and youth studies and to develop theory useful to e.g. cognitive and social sciences, with an accent on anthropology;
- The Network is committed to discussing and developing methodologies oriented towards children and youth;
- Ethical issues concerning research and work with children and youth are at the core of our attention.
Organization and coordination
The Network holds monthly seminars and coordinates other forms of exchange (e.g. the website, a mailing list, and newsletters). The Network is directed by Dr. Sandra J.T.M. Evers under the auspices of the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam..