Childhood and Youth in India: Engagements with Modernity (Studies in Childhood and Youth)

This edited volume advances the conceptual framework of the 'everyday urban' to unpack the ways in which processes of modernity in India shape young subjects and, in so doing, centers the analytical categories of childhood and youth. In rejecting simplistic binaries of agency, and teleological logics of development and modernity, the authors focus on the complex pathways of negotiation and conflict that mark the lives of young people across various historical and contemporary contexts in urban India. Chapters are organized across two key themes: Shaping Modern Subjects and Being Modern Subjects, while spanning multiple disciplines including anthropology, history, sociology, disability studies, and psychology. Together, the contributions aim to advance the field of childhood and youth studies in South Asia and beyond. Praise for Childhood and Youth in India Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction: Children, Youth, and Modernity in the ‘Everyday Urban’ Modernity, Development, and ‘Being Modern’ Young People in Cities: The ‘Everyday Urban’ Approach Politics and Problems of Knowledge Production for the South Thematic Explorations References Part I: Shaping Modern Subjects Chapter 2: Development Discourses and Psychosocial Interventions: The Discursive Construction of ‘Risky’ and ‘Resilient’ Childhoods and Youth Introduction Methodology Modernity, Disciplinary Developments and Psycho-economic Regulation of the Child Teaching Young People to Manage Life’s Risks Through a Set of Skills Life Skilling Youth in India: Cultivating Resilience and Conformity among Disadvantaged Youth Conclusion References Chapter 3: Conceptualisation of Development and Learning in Indian Early Childhood Curriculum Background Modernity and Theorising Children’s Development Methodological Frame Conceptualisation of Learning and Development in the Preschool Curriculum Document Theoretical Framing Guiding Preschool Curriculum Discussion Cultural-Historical Conceptualisation of Children’s Development and Learning Conclusion: Synthesising Key Arguments References Chapter 4: Mediated Childhoods: Newspapers and the Modern Malayali Child Introduction Media Panic and Modern Childhoods Entanglement of Dystopic and Utopic Childhoods The Bhasha Press and Modern Childhoods Nalla Paadam: A Kerala Scripted by Children The Dystopic Malayali Child: Middle-Class Parenting Gone Awry The Utopic Malayali Child: Regeneration of Kerala Through Children Modern Schooling and Nalla Paadam Conclusion References Chapter 5: Clean Bodies in School Uniform: Childhood and Media Discourses of Cleanliness in Tamil Nadu, India School Uniforms, Childhood, and a Hygienic Future Methodology and Context School Uniforms in Display Public Health Sanitation Campaigns and the Agential Child Selling Cleanliness, Capitalizing Reproduction Claiming Shared Futures, Obscuring Difference Conclusion References Chapter 6: The Trumpet and the Drum: Music and Reclaiming the Delinquent Child Reforming Children Reinforcing Imperial Power Producing Modern Citizens Children’s Everyday Negotiations of Colonial Modernity Visualising Childhood Conclusion References Chapter 7: Identifying Child Labor: Revisiting State’s Craft in Bombay Textile Mills (1880–1911) Introduction The Implementation of Indian Factory Acts Complexities in the Processes of Certification: Marginal Children Encounter with Colonial Modernity and Chronological Age Colonial Modernity and Disciplinary Practices of Factory Schools Conclusion References Secondary Sources Primary Sources Part II: Being Modern Subjects Chapter 8: Examining Shifting Us-Them Binaries: The Experiences of Disabled Children in After-School Programs Theorizing the Everyday Lives of Disabled Children Methodology What Makes for an Inclusive After-School Environment? Waiting to Be Included Explicit Independence, Implicit Interdependence Learning and Ability During the Pandemic Countering Commonplace Ableist Narratives Within and Beyond After-School Programs References Chapter 9: “Youth Must Keep Upvaluing Themselves”: Of Personality Development and Modern Selves in Contemporary Delhi Methodology The Modern Self in a Post-liberalised India Personality Development at Mrs Batra’s Communication Skills Grooming The Category of the ‘Ungroomed’ Conclusion References Chapter 10: “Nobody Wants to Be the Behenji-Type”: Young People Managing Romance, Work and Violence in the Urban Slums of Kolkata Introduction Methodology Contextualising Youth Romance Culture “Nobody Wants to Be the Behenji-Type” The “Dump n Dull” Type A Changing Arranged Marriage Terrain: Love, Violence and Settling Young, Female, Worker Conclusion References Chapter 11: Producing Modern Subjects of Change: Reeducation and Empowerment for Migrant Working Children in Bangalore Migrant Working Children in the Silicon Valley of India Building New Child Subjectivities Through Empowerment and Participation Challenging Tradition Through Child Governance and Participation The Challenges and Complexities of Crafting New Subjectivities Final Remarks References Chapter 12: Family Life, Schooling, and Modernity: Examining the ‘Everyday’ Experiences of Elite Adolescence in India Introduction Parenting and Modern Childhood Schooling and Modernity Modernity and the Case of Transnationally Mobile Adolescents Research Methodology Research Participants: Description of Interviewees ‘Everyday’ Experiences of Elite Adolescence Cultivating Intercultural Competences: Trips Abroad and Multinational Classmates Learning to Lead: The Value of Internships and School Leadership Positions Lessons in Wielding Privilege: Adolescents’ Engagement in Social Service Work College Preparation: Family Support and School Resources Parental Support in the College Preparation Process Schools’ College Preparation Support Conclusion References Correction to: Childhood and Youth in India Correction to: Index