Beschreibung
Most children in Africa start working from a very early age – helping the
family or earning wages. Should this work be abolished, tolerated, or
encouraged? Such questions are the subject of much debate: international
and national organizations, employers, parents, and children often have
diverse opinions and put pressure in different directions. The authors of
this book contribute to the discussion through intensive fieldwork and
careful analysis of children’s activities. They consider childhood and
family, work and play, work in rural and urban contexts, paths to
learning, work and school, and children’s rights.
Gerd Spittler is Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology
at the University of Bayreuth. His publications on work include
Hirtenarbeit (1998), Le travail en Afrique noire (co-editor, 2003), and
Founders of the Anthropology of Work (2008).
Michael Bourdillon is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology,
University of Zimbabwe. Recently he has specialised on children’s work and
is a co-author of Rights and Wrongs of Children’s Work (2010).
