The Contribution of Norbert Elias’s Theoretical-Empirical Framework to the Sociology of Childhood: Some Tensions and Research Experiences

This chapter discusses how some theoretical-methodological dilemmas regarding the sociology of childhood can be resolved by studies that use the Eliasian framework. These studies research the influence of spatial dimensions—especially the neighbourhood and city spaces—in children’s chains of interdependence. The following tensions will be analyzed: the dichotomies between individual-society and action-structure; the interdisciplinarity between psychology, sociology, history and biology; children and their intra and intergenerational relations of interdependence; new family compositions and relationships between the local and global. Finally, I will discuss how Elias’s theoretical-empirical approach is highly suitable for the study of the spatial dimension of children’s lives in contemporary society.