Current Discussions on Childhood and Ethnography

SZULC, ANDREA; HECHT, ANA CAROLINA; HERNÁNDEZ, CELESTE; FINCHELSTEIN, INES; LEAVY, PIA; VARELA, MELINA; VERON, LORENA; ENRIZ, NOELIA

Liege

Congreso; 1st International Congress Towards an Anthropology of Childhood and Children. Ethnographic Fieldwork Diversity and Construction of a Field; 2011

University of Liege

Our paper presents some results of a collective research project "Ethnographic research on and with children: A review and exploration", at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. We are a team of young researchers, under my direction, studying different childhood issues but sharing our concerns and reflections regarding the methodological aspects of such a challenging work. Our research project aims to: 1) Describe and analyze the methodological strategies employed in anthropological research on childhood through the past decades. 2) Explore, discuss and consolidate techniques for ethnographic research on childhood, with children themselves. In this paper we present some collective reflections, mainly about the deep connection between methodological and conceptual approaches to childhood and children, the ethnographic inquiry on children’s agency and some ethical considerations on such an ethnographic work.