Overview

This book presents a comprehensive overview of African children's lives in times of transition, transformation, and change some twenty-two years after political emancipation in South Africa. With diverse family formations, non-marital childbearing, and diverse parenting situations prevalent in South Africa, the book covers both the conceptual and theoretical questions that explore the context of children's experiences. It uses examples from a range of primary and secondary data sources to illustrate how resilience in children faced with adversity could be nurtured, demonstrating the links between theory and practice, and critically commenting on questions of epistemology by drawing on research with children within different African social and cultural contexts.While the volume affirms the complexities of explaining child adversity or privilege, it stresses the diversity of South African children's experiences and the importance of adopting both children's rights and Afro-centric perspectives to account for the commonality and diversity of childhood and children's empowerment in diverse family systems. The contributions also provide recommendations on how to respond and intervene in children's issues, from both practical and policy levels, in a dedicated manner to ensure that children are protected from harm, nurtured to succeed, and assisted during and after traumatic experiences.This volume represents a valuable resource for scholars and students in the fields of humanities, social science, development studies and public health, as well as policy makers, child practitioners, and child rights advocates.

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9781443897358

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While the volume affirms the complexities of explaining child adversity or privilege, it stresses the diversity of South African children's experiences and the importance of adopting both children's rights and Afro-centric perspectives to account for the commonality and diversity of childhood and children's empowerment in diverse family systems. The contributions also provide recommendations on how to respond and intervene in children's issues, from both practical and policy levels, in a dedicated manner to ensure that children are protected from harm, nurtured to succeed, and assisted during and after traumatic experiences.This volume represents a valuable resource for scholars and students in the fields of humanities, social science, development studies and public health, as well as policy makers, child practitioners, and child rights advocates. Human Sciences Research CouncilHSRC.ac.za, 28.09.2016

Author Information

Professor Monde Makiwane currently works in the Human and Social Development research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council in Pretoria as a Chief Research Specialist. He also holds a position at the North-West University, South Africa, as an Extraordinary Professor. He received a Master's degree in Social Science in Sociology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and a PhD in Demography from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. In addition, he has held two fellowships: one at Harvard University and another at the University of Pennsylvania. His areas of research interest include intergenerational relations, ageing, youth, teenage sexuality, fertility, social security and migration. He has authored and co-authored a number of journal articles and book chapters. Professor Mzikazi Nduna, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Mzi has research interests in HIV/AIDS, father connections, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender and gender-based violence, and psychological distress pertaining to women, children and sexual minorities. She is an alumnus of the Sexuality Leadership Development, the Carnegie and the ICP CHANGE Fellowships, and has co-authored 45 peer-reviewed journal articles, a book review, and three book chapters, and reviews manuscripts for international and local journals. Professor Nene Ernest Khalema is an Associate Professor and Academic Leader of Community Development at the School of Built Environment & Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). He is a former Chief Research Specialist (CRS) at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and former assistant professor of social work at the University of Calgary in Canada. Before joining UKZN he taught social science, social work, community development and public health at numerous institutions in Canada since 2001. He is a co-editor of several books entitled: Millennium Development Goals in Retrospect: Africa's Development Beyond 2015 (Springer, 2015) and Africa Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Exploring the Multidimensional Discourses on Development (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013). These publications unearthed development dynamics in specific African countries, critically examined development prescriptions of the North towards Africa, examined the continent's external relations, rethought predominant ideas on development, and engaged in critical examination of the concepts and practices that have maintained hegemonic positions in discussions on Africa's development.

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