This anthology brings together perspectives on how the local knowledge of children concerning material social practices, food culture and habits, rights, and dynamics of intergenerational relationships complicate the landscape of rural and urban childhoods in Ethiopia. At the heart of the book is an attempt to analyze the dual relationships between children as social actors and the knowledge in which their actions are embedded. Drawing on child-focused qualitative fieldwork, authors of nine chapters document the complex ways in which family collectives set moral, social, cultural, and economic expectations on children and the knowledge and skills children need and use as they go about fulfilling those expectations. The book underlines the importance of explaining the individual and collective aspirations and life paths of children by the contexts and ethos relative to their families and communities. The focus on local values enabled us to move beyond essentialist and normative stances of childhood innocence and dependence. The book draws analytical attention to broader forces of social change as they are encountered in children's everyday lives including inequalities linked to migration, education, livelihood transitions, urbanization, and environmental transformation. TatekAbebeis Associate Professor at the Norwegian Centre for ChildResearch, Norwegian University of Sciences and Technology. Anne Trine Kjørholt is Professor and Director at the Norwegian Centre for ChildResearch, Norwegian University of Sciences and Technology.
