How does the place, economy, and culture of where a person is born and raised impact the development of their personhood over their life course?

Drawing from five case studies across diverse global contexts, social anthropologist María Florencia Amigó considers how cultural identity, engrained beliefs and practices, and economic determinants can shape destinies, by looking at how babies become children, and children become independent adults.

Connecting stories across disconnected and distant places, Infants, Children, and Youth explores growing up in adverse contexts. Beginning with early childhood malnutrition and stunting in Aceh, Indonesia, the book moves through the life course to next consider young children of migrant parents in Sydney, Australia. Back in Indonesia, older children contribute to their families’ survival by working as domestic helpers, sand miners, and labourers in tobacco plantations in the island of Lombok. In their teenage years, Nepalese maidens and young men negotiate autonomy and early marriage. Finally, Amigó documents the transition from high school to workplace for youth from disadvantaged Sydney suburbs.

Addressing themes such as health, work, education, and social reproduction, this book is ideal reading for students of Anthropology, Human Geography, Sociology, Education, Cultural Studies, and Gerontology.

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• 1 Introduction
  • Shaped by adversity, resisting adversity
  • (Dis) Connected ethnographies of infants, children, and youth
  • Multi-sited stories
  • Contour lines
  • Extension activities
• 2 Nutrition. Resilience: Born in Aceh, Indonesia
  • Navigating tradition: Cultural beliefs on infant development in Simeulue
    • Diah: A pregnant mother
    • Masnun: First time mother of a young child
    • Tofidah: A community nurse (Kader)
    • Nur: A health promotion officer
    • Aleng: Father of four
  • Bridging knowledge and power
    • Extension activities
• 3 Language, courage: Schooling as a migrant in inner Sydney, Australia
  • Latin American children caught in stories of hope, aspirations, sadness, and frustrations
    • Raising migrant children (through the eyes of a Peruvian mother)
    • Accepting a mixed-up upbringing (through the eyes of a Venezuelan father)
    • A teacher’s perspective: It’s (not) all about language
  • Multiple belongings. Multiple accountabilities.
    • Extension activities
• 4 Poverty. Commitment: Contributing to the household in Lombok, Indonesia
  • Children’s work
    • Irwan (male, 11)
    • Sam (male, 12)
    • Rehan (female, 14)
    • Marriuni (female, around 13)
  • Critical extra hands
    • Extension activities
• 5 Marriage. Grit: Marrying young in Sunsari, Nepal
  • Early marriage in the Terai (lowlands)
    • Sarita, smitten and married at 16: Driven by family honour
    • Laxmi, eloped and married at 17: Driven by motherhood
    • Kaajal, vulnerable and married at 17: Forced to marry
    • Raju, only child and married at 16: Driven by household’s survival
  • Early marriage in Sunsari: New aspirations, old expectations
    • Extension activities
• 6 Employment. Independence. (Lack of) Respect: Working as an unskilled youth in Western Sydney, Australia
  • Western Sydney
    • Invisible hurdles: How disability intersects with career aspirations
    • Silenced and overlooked: Employment as a young, unskilled female worker
    • “No one really wants you there”: The workplace through the eyes of transgender youth
  • A harsh road to maturity
    • Extension activities
• 7 From adversity to hope
  • Contour lines of hope
    • Extension activities
• Notes
• References
• Index

María Florencia Amigó PhD is a Senior Interdisciplinary Lecturer at the University of Sydney.