ABSTRACT

This article puts privilege theory in conversation with childhood studies in order to create a richer understanding of privilege. Privilege describes the unearned, largely invisible advantages that historically dominant groups enjoy at the expense of marginalized groups. The field of childhood studies was created in part as a critique of adults’ positions of privilege relative to children. I argue that while the concept of privilege is a useful lens for understanding inequality, including in childhood studies, it has also been developed in a way that fails to capture certain aspects of adult hegemony. Specifically, the current understanding of privilege as ‘unearned’ is problematic because children as well as other marginalized groups often work without earning. This article proposes to think of privilege as automatic rather than unearned, and suggests future directions for privilege theory and childhood studies to better inform one another.

摘要

本文将特权理论与童年研究相结合，以加深对特权的理解。特权描述了历史上占主导地位的群体以牺牲边缘群体为代价所享有的不劳而获的、很大程度上是无形的优势。儿童研究领域的创建部分是为了批判成年人相对于儿童的特权地位。我认为，虽然特权的概念是理解不平等的有用视角，包括在童年研究中，但它的发展方式也未能捕捉到成人霸权的某些方面。具体而言，目前将特权理解为“不劳而获”是有问题的，因为儿童和其他边缘化群体经常没有收入而工作。本文建议将特权视为自动而非不劳而获，