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Book Synopsis

A new history of manhood, race, and hierarchy in American childhood
Like Children argues that the child has been the key figure giving measure and meaning to the human in thought and culture since the early American period. Camille Owens demonstrates that white men's power at the top of humanism's order has depended on those at the bottom. As Owens shows, it was childhood's modern arcfrom ignorance and dependence to reason and rightsthat structured white men's power in early America: by claiming that black adults were like children, whites naturalized black subjection within the American family order. Demonstrating how Americans sharpened the child into a powerful white supremacist weapon, Owens nevertheless troubles the notion that either the child or the human have been figures of unadulterated whiteness or possess stable boundaries.
Like Children recenters the history of American childhood around black children and rewrites the story of the human th

Like Children

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    A Hardback by Camille Owens

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      Book details

      Publisher New York University Press
      Published 7/30/2024
      ISBN-13 9781479812912
      978-1479812912
      ISBN-10 1479812919
      Also in:
      Literary studies: general

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      A new history of manhood, race, and hierarchy in American childhood
      Like Children argues that the child has been the key figure giving measure and meaning to the human in thought and culture since the early American period. Camille Owens demonstrates that white men's power at the top of humanism's order has depended on those at the bottom. As Owens shows, it was childhood's modern arcfrom ignorance and dependence to reason and rightsthat structured white men's power in early America: by claiming that black adults were like children, whites naturalized black subjection within the American family order. Demonstrating how Americans sharpened the child into a powerful white supremacist weapon, Owens nevertheless troubles the notion that either the child or the human have been figures of unadulterated whiteness or possess stable boundaries.
      Like Children recenters the history of American childhood around black children and rewrites the story of the human th

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