Introduction

Abstract

This article outlines the approach underlying the articles in this monograph issue of the journal. The sociology of childhood is still a young branch of the discipline, as ‘little actors’ have for a long time tended to be overlooked by sociologists. The main question that was considered to be of real sociological interest concerned the transformation of ‘little savages’ into civilized, reliable social actors, into adult actors, namely socialization. In contrast, the new sociological view of children fosters the study of a variety of children’s issues, addressing questions which are overlooked, excluded, marginalized or rendered illegitimate by the focus on socialization. Some important starting points and the central concepts of the ‘new’ childhood sociology — as it is often characterized by its proponents — are outlined. The development and ‘state of the art’ of this sociological field in different countries needs to be compared and reflected against the background of everyday assumptions and social problems in each of the respective societies in order to foster the further production of sociologically relevant knowledge — this constituted the programmatic approach of the articles assembled here.