Abstract
Based on the arguments put forward in preceding chapters, Chapter 11 pursues several theoretical issues pertaining to human sociality, wherein an environment in which nature and culture intersect provides vital resources that shape the experience of childhood. The concept of “play” constitutes a key mode through which to re-theorize structure and agency. At the very least, this perspective is vital to understanding the process of socialization in rapidly changing (post-)hunter-gatherer communities and provides a means to improve their future prospects. At the same time, it indicates how playful human activities are embedded in the environmental structure.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barnard, A. (2002). The foraging mode of thought. Senri Ethnological Studies, 60, 5–24.
Bernstein, N. A. (1996). On dexterity and its development. In M. Latash, & M. T. Turvey (Eds.), Dexterity and its development (pp. 3–244). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss 1: Attachment. London, UK: Hogarth.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss 2: Separation. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Csordas, T. (1990). Embodiment as a paradigm for anthropology. Ethos, 18, 5–47.
Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life (1st ed.). London, UK: John Murray.
Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex (1st ed.). London, UK: John Murray.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on face behavior. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
Gratier, M., & Apter-Danon, G. (2009). The improvised musicality of belonging: Repetition and variation in mother-infant vocal interaction. In S. Malloch, & C. Trevarthen (Eds.), Communicative musicality: Exploring the basis of human companionship (pp. 301–327). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Hays, J. (2016a). Owners of learning: The Nyae Nyae village schools over twenty-five years. Basel Namibia Studies Series 16. Basel, Switzerland: Basler Afrika Bibliographien.
Hays, J. (2016b). Who owns education? Schooling, learning and livelihood for the Nyae Nyae Ju|’hoansi. Journal of Namibian Studies, 20, 37–61.
Hewlett, B. S. (2016). Evolutionary cultural anthropology: Containing Ebola outbreaks and explaining hunter-gatherer childhoods. Current Anthropology, 57(S13), S27–S37.
Hewlett, B. S., Hudson, J., Boyette, A. H., & Fouts, H. N. (2019). Intimate living: Sharing space among Aka and other hunter-gatherers. In N. Lavi, & D. E. Friesem (Eds.), Towards a broader view of hunter-gatherer sharing (pp. 39–56). Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge.
Hrdy, S. B. (2009). Mothers and others: The evolutionary origins of mutual understanding. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Ingold, T. (2000). The perception of the environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. London, UK: Routledge.
Kaye, K. (1982). The mental and social life of babies: How parents create persons. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Konner, M. J. (2005). Hunter-gatherer infancy and childhood: The !Kung and others. In B. S. Hewlett, & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Hunter-gatherer childhoods: Evolutionary, developmental, and cultural perspectives (pp. 19–64). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Konner, M. J. (2016). Hunter-gatherer infancy and childhood in the context of human evolution. In C. L. Meehan, & A. N. Crittenden (Eds.), Childhood: Origins, evolution, and implications (pp. 123–154). Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Low, C. H. (2008). Khoisan medicine in history and practice. Research in Khoisan Studies 20. Cologne, Germany: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
Malloch, S. N. (1999). Mothers and infants and communicative musicality. Musicae Scientiae, Special Issue 1999–2000, 3(1), 29–57.
Meehan, C. L., Helfrechr, C., & Malcom, C. D. (2016). Implications of lengthy development and maternal life history: Allomaternal investment, peer relationships, and social networks. In C. L. Meehan, & A. N. Crittenden (Eds.), Childhood: Origins, evolution, and implications (pp. 199–220). Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Morelli, G. A., Chaudhary, N., Gottlieb, A., Keller, H., Murray, M., Quinn, N., et al. (2017). Taking culture seriously: A pluralistic approach to attachment. In H. Keller, & K. A. Bard (Eds.), The cultural nature of attachment: Contextualizing relationships and development (pp. 139–169). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Ochs, E., & Schieffelin, B. B. (2012). The theory of language socialization. In A. Duranti, E. Ochs, & B. B. Schieffelin (Eds.), The handbook of language socialization (pp. 1–21). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ochs, E., Solomon, O., & Sterponi, L. (2005). Limitations and transformations of habitus in child-directed communication. Discourse Studies, 7(4–5), 547–583.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Sapir, E. (1929). The unconscious patterning of behavior in society. In E. S. Dummer (Ed.), The unconscious: A symposium (pp. 114–142). New York, NY: Knopf.
Shostak, M. (1976). A !Kung woman’s memories of childhood. In R. B. Lee, & I. DeVore (Eds.), Kalahari hunter-gatherers: Studies of the !Kung San and their neighbors (pp. 246–278). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Takada, A. (2015). Narratives on San ethnicity: The cultural and ecological foundations of lifeworld among the !Xun of north-central Namibia. Kyoto, Japan and Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Kyoto University Press and Trans Pacific Press.
Takada, A. (2016). Education and learning during social situations among the Central Kalahari San. In H. Terashima, & B. S. Hewlett (Eds.), Social learning and innovation in contemporary hunter-gatherers: Evolutionary and ethnographic perspectives (pp. 97–111). Tokyo, Japan: Springer.
Thompson, J. L., & Nelson, A. J. (2016). Childhood and patterns of growth in the genus Homo. In C. L. Meehan, & A. N. Crittenden (Eds.), Childhood: Origins, evolution, and implications (pp. 75–101). Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Vygotsky and the social formation of mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (Kindle version).
Widlok, T. (1994). The social relationships of changing Haiǁon hunter-gatherers in northern Namibia, 1990–1994. PhD dissertation, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.
Widlok, T. (1999). Living on Mangetti. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Takada, A. (2020). Reconsidering Human Childhood. In: The Ecology of Playful Childhood. Palgrave Studies on the Anthropology of Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49439-1_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49439-1_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49438-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49439-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)