Hello everyone,
Here’s a link (below) to a thought-provoking piece that offers insights into questions about what it means to be fully human. Children of all ages are often set outside the sphere of ‘serious’ (adult) concerns, but there are a particular set of exclusions at work in the realm of non-verbal relations. What does this mean for our practice and research at UVic CC? Among other things, the authors ask:
What do we do with societal assumptions about babies-toddlers being non-representational subjects par excellence unable to represent themself?...Babies and toddlers, at least in the Global North and wealthier sectors of many Majority World nations are disruptive; they challenge and transform expectations of how space is experienced and performed. In so doing, as tiny humans, almost always regarded unquestioningly as human despite flouting most human ‘norms’ of conduct and (self-)representation, they starkly expose and rupture those norms which otherwise remain tacit and hidden. (Holt & Philo, 2022, p. 8)
As always, when reading this piece it’s important to consider the context the authors are writing from. For the most part, the piece is focused specifically at questioning why babies and toddlers are largely excluded from the sphere of ‘children’s geographies’. Of course, not all societies, cultures and communities hold the view of babies and toddlers the authors are pushing back on. However, they raise interesting considerations about societal assumptions that intersect with some of our considerations this year with what it means to live a pedagogy of listening. What views do we hold about ‘the agentic or compentent child’, for example, that influence everyday practices? What does a common worlding approach bring to the conversation? I thought it might be an interesting read to think with, within and across our different contexts.
*Note: the authors use the terms ‘Minority’ and ‘Majority‘ worlds which is alternate terminology to what many of us might be used to. As Sadaf Shallwani (2015) points out:
Majority world / Minority world: The term ‘Majority world’ highlights the fact that the majority of the world’s population lives in these parts of the world traditionally referred to as ‘developing’. The term ‘Minority world’ is similarly used to refer to those countries traditionally referred to as ‘developed’, where a minority of the world’s population resides.
ABSTRACT We question the relative absence of babies and toddlers in geographies of children and youth, while also acknowledging what may be signs of a new subfield in the making. We argue that there is an exciting opportunity here because babies and toddlers are at the crux of what it is to be human, raising potent questions about exactly ‘what kinds of human’ are they? We argue that babies are the ultimate non-representational, in certain respects barely-human, subjects who express their agencies in non-verbal ways. Toddlers too are disruptive to the socio-spatial order, and their disruption exposes the normative expectations of behaviour in place. Close attention to these tiny humans and their ‘micro- geographies’ provides insight into ‘lines of flight’ that configure our studies, and maybe even our worlds, otherwise.
Would love to hear thoughts on the piece!
Thanks,
Narda
