Working childhoods : youth, agency and the environment in India

Working Childhoods draws upon research in the Indian Himalayas to provide a theoretically-informed account of children's lives in a remote part of the world. The book shows that children in their pre-teens and teens are lynchpins of the rural economy, spending hours each day herding cattle, collecting leaves, and juggling household tasks with schoolwork. Through documenting in painstaking detail children's stories, songs, friendships, fears and tribulations, the book offers a powerful account of youth agency and young people's rich relationship with the natural world. The 'environment' emerges not only as a crucial economic resource but also as a basis for developing gendered ideas of self. The book should be essential reading for anyone interested in better understanding childhood, youth, the environment, and development within and beyond India - including anthropologists, sociologists, geographers, development studies scholars, and South Asianists. Cover Half title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Figures Map Tables Abbreviations Preface 1 Working with young people in the Himalayas Young people’s agency Young people and the environment South Asian approaches Uttarakhand Chamoli district Locating the village Argument and structure of the book 2 The high Himalayas Bemni Social inequalities Conclusions 3 A delicate dance: young people’s work Children’s household work Children’s agricultural and forest work Schoolwork Conclusions 4 Herding, fun and difference Herding, seasonality and gender Herding and fun (mazaa) Gender, caste and play A herding puja Conclusions 5 Friendship in practice: collecting leaves in Bemni Leaf collection in Bemni Village expectations Achieving leaf collection standards by friendship Firm friends and cultural production Conclusions 6 Harvesting identities: mukku, gender and development Mukku in Bemni Saka Contextualising girls’ transgressions Rakesh Conclusions 7 Conclusions Active quiescence Social inequality The social construction of the environment Conclusions Epilogue Glossary of Hindi and Garhwali terms Bibliography Index "Working Childhoods draws upon research in the Indian Himalayas to provide a theoretically informed account of children's lives in a remote part of the world. The book shows that children in their pre-teens and teens are lynchpins of the rural economy, spending hours each day herding cattle, collecting leaves and juggling household tasks with schoolwork. Through documenting in painstaking detail children's stories, songs, friendships, fears and tribulations, the book offers a powerful account of youth agency and young people's rich relationship with the natural world. The 'environment' emerges not only as a crucial economic resource but also as a basis for developing gendered ideas of self. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in better understanding childhood, youth, the environment, and development within and beyond India -- including anthropologists, sociologists, geographers, development studies scholars and south Asianists."--Provided by publisher