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The Cultural Construction of Childhood

Changing Conceptions Among the Pare of Northern Tanzania

Brown University marida_hollos{at}brown.edu

The article examines the concept of childhood in an African society and tracks a contemporary shift in thinking about what a child is when a major sociocultural transformation effects a large segment of that population. The Pare, traditionally patrilineal highland cultivators, have recently experienced a change in their subsistence base from hoe cultivation to wage labor. This brought about a shift away from reliance on lineage authority to more couple-centered relations in some couples. A consequence of this has been a reduction in fertility in these couples and a view on children which departs from the traditional one. The article compares the daily lives of the children and the two types of parents' conceptualizations of childhood.

Key Words: Africa • daily routines • fertility decline • parent interviews • social change

Childhood, Vol. 9, No. 2, 167-189 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/0907568202009002802


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