L'infanzia è diventata un fenomeno sociale? Contributi al dibattito sulla fondazione di un nuovo paradigma sociologico.

This essay delineates an overview of a new approach to the analysis of childhood, diverging from more traditional studies, that consider children only as objects of cultural transmission, of limited sociological interest, in that they are not fully developed individuals. The so-called New Childhood Sociology therefore confutes socialisation as a central category in considering the relationships between adults and children, and replaces it with that of generation, which ensures a better comprehension of power relationships and processes in the transmission of culture. From this point of view, childhood is defined as a permanent but changing structure, in which the children passing through are real social actors. Related concepts are illustrated and some implications in research are discussed. Some examples of research involving children are cited to illustrate the analysis of methodologies (quantitative or qualitative) adopted and their capability to actually investigate childhood. Finally, some open questions deducible from childhood studies and their connection with sociology in general are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]