Methodological tools of Foucauldian perspective

Authors

• Kirsi Pauliina Kallio Tampereen yliopisto

Abstract

The article discusses the potential of Michel Foucault’s archaeological-genealogical methodology in studying the histories of the present childhood. The United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, and some policies and practices deriving from it, are discussed in terms of discoursive critic to explore the potential of the methodological tools that this Foucauldian perspective could provide for the current social, cultural and spatial childhood studies. The concept of agency is recognized to pose the principal challenge for bringing Foucauldian thinking and childhood studies together. However, it is also realized that this challenge may be worth meeting since it can be found to be a key factor for the theoretical development of critical childhood studies.