Beyond ‘developmentalism’: A relational and embodied approach to young children's development |
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Authors: | Norman Gabriel |
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Institution: | Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, Colchester, UK |
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Abstract: | This article begins by discussing ‘developmentalism’, one of the key debates that has characterised the current theoretical impasse in the development of childhood studies. I use Norbert Elias's concept of the relation between love and learning as a foundation to develop the way in which young children's development is a non-linear, temporal and embodied process. I argue that we need to develop a relational approach that moves beyond some of the binary divisions between ‘nature’ and ‘biology’, drawing on concepts from particular theoretical traditions that have been under-utilised, particularly the relational school of psychoanalysis and the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. |
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Keywords: | child development childhood developmentalism Merleau-Ponty Norbert Elias |
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