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Child Poverty in Rich Contexts: The Example of Sweden

Authors :
Andersson Bruck, Kjerstin
Source :
Global Studies of Childhood. Jun 2020 10(2):95-105.
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

In international comparisons, Sweden is one of the countries with the lowest number of children growing up in poverty; its material standard is high, and welfare services are extensive and heavily subsidised. How child poverty can be understood in that context is interrogated in the article. The point of departure for the discussion is Swedish Save the Children's 2013 anti-poverty campaign "Fattigskolan" [Poverty School]. The campaign presents child poverty from the vantage point of a welfare state and is informative for understanding normative discourses on childhood. Childhood is investigated as a social imagination that both structures children's and parents' everyday lives and organises society. It is argued that the dominant social imagination is based on a middle-class fantasy permeating the organisation of the welfare state. The elements of this fantasy are critical to understanding child poverty.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2043-6106
Volume :
10
Issue :
2
Database :
ERIC
Journal :
Global Studies of Childhood
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
EJ1255104
Document Type :
Journal Articles<br />Reports - Evaluative
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610619849501