In a dozen original essays contributors to Symbolic Childhood engage directly with the
politics of representation by scrutinizing the connection between the exercise of power and
portrayals of children and childhood. The volume as a whole construes childhood not as a given
category transparently understood but as a thoroughly social artifact infused with
contradictory and inexact meaning. As a social construct childhood is thus approached as an
active production which can be taken apart and reconstructed in a variety of ways and for a
variety of purposes. Chapters examine a range of issues and topics including: precocious and
gifted children gender sexuality innocence school shootings cartoons video games
adoption street children and feral children.
