Social understandings of children (re-)produced in everyday practices of childhood: the case of Polish housing estates

Abstract

The article’s subject occupies a place in research on the actor-centred sociology of childhood. Its objective is to discuss the social understandings of children that emerge from the social practices of childhood and is based on a research study carried out with the participation of new parents in 2016–18. This article presents a proposal for the categorisation of these practices and the results of the analysis of understandings of children as social actors (re)produced in them. Analysis of the social understandings of children from the point of view of practices can provide a new perspective by revealing the complexity of human subjectivity and its performativity, opening new possibilities in the field of studies on children and their agency in everyday lives.