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Growing Up in Society - a Historical Social Psychology of Childhood
Aufwachsen in (der) Gesellschaft: eine historische Psychologie der Kindheit
[journal article]
Abstract This paper develops a historical social psychology that can be used to understand young children's social development. It compares the theoretical frameworks of three of the most important relational thinkers in the 20th century - Norbert Elias, Pierre Bourdieu, and Erich Fromm - to shed light on th... view more
This paper develops a historical social psychology that can be used to understand young children's social development. It compares the theoretical frameworks of three of the most important relational thinkers in the 20th century - Norbert Elias, Pierre Bourdieu, and Erich Fromm - to shed light on their attempts to integrate the insights of psychoanalysis into their sociological perspectives. I begin by exploring Bourdieu's "uneasy" relationship with psychoanalysis, arguing that this has led to a less than successful quest by his followers for bridging concepts that can further develop the concept of social habitus. Fromm, one of the foremost but relatively neglected psychoanalysts of his generation, developed a relational psychoanalysis to explain the social relatedness of individuals in society. However, although his key concept of social character is a bold attempt to make sense of the historical forces that shape our individual and collective lives, it is still too heavily tied to the influence of economic structures in society. I argue that Elias is a more consistent, relational sociologist, able to develop highly nuanced concepts that can fully explain the social habitus of young children, focusing on his concept of "love and learning relationships" to explain how they grow up in society.... view less
Keywords
personality development; childhood; Bourdieu, P.; Elias, N.; social psychology; Fromm, E.; social network; social learning; psychoanalysis; socialization; social relations; habits
Classification
Social Psychology
Sociology of the Youth, Sociology of Childhood
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Free Keywords
social character; relational sociology
Document language
English
Publication Year
2017
Page/Pages
p. 207-226
Journal
Historical Social Research, 42 (2017) 4
Issue topic
Changing Power Relations and the Drag Effects of Habitus
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.42.2017.4.207-226
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed