Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

In the Arms of Our Ancestors: The Universal Social Phenomenon of Human Child Care

Skou, Viktoria LU (2021) SANK02 20211
Social Anthropology
Abstract
Care is a fundamental need to all human children, in all cultures and through all of human
existence. While child care is universal, its practices are cultural-specific. Inspired by this
cultural differentiation, this study explores the universal social phenomenon of human
child care in an evolutionary, historical and cultural perspective in a theoretical
framework of feminist anthropology and the theory of care ethics. We found that human
child care in prehistoric time has been formed by infant-carrying, frequent breastfeeding
and cooperative breeding, a result congruent with observations of child care practices in
present-day hunter-gatherer societies organised similar to prehistoric societies. Child care
recommendations from the... (More)
Care is a fundamental need to all human children, in all cultures and through all of human
existence. While child care is universal, its practices are cultural-specific. Inspired by this
cultural differentiation, this study explores the universal social phenomenon of human
child care in an evolutionary, historical and cultural perspective in a theoretical
framework of feminist anthropology and the theory of care ethics. We found that human
child care in prehistoric time has been formed by infant-carrying, frequent breastfeeding
and cooperative breeding, a result congruent with observations of child care practices in
present-day hunter-gatherer societies organised similar to prehistoric societies. Child care
recommendations from the Western industrialisation showed a remarkably different
practice of child care and that the societal changes following the industrialisation,
specifically the geographical organisation of families and organisation of labour to a high
degree affected child care practices. We found that child care practices are shaped in
adaption to society and by applying the feminist concept of the dichotomy of nature and
culture we found that the different cultural approaches to child care practices can be
understood as congruent with a greater or lesser opposition between the categories of
'nature' and 'culture' in a society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Skou, Viktoria LU
supervisor
organization
course
SANK02 20211
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
social anthropology, child care, evolution, cross-cultural research, feminism, care ethics
language
English
id
9052723
date added to LUP
2021-06-11 12:05:54
date last changed
2021-06-11 12:05:54
@misc{9052723,
  abstract     = {{Care is a fundamental need to all human children, in all cultures and through all of human
existence. While child care is universal, its practices are cultural-specific. Inspired by this
cultural differentiation, this study explores the universal social phenomenon of human
child care in an evolutionary, historical and cultural perspective in a theoretical
framework of feminist anthropology and the theory of care ethics. We found that human
child care in prehistoric time has been formed by infant-carrying, frequent breastfeeding
and cooperative breeding, a result congruent with observations of child care practices in
present-day hunter-gatherer societies organised similar to prehistoric societies. Child care
recommendations from the Western industrialisation showed a remarkably different
practice of child care and that the societal changes following the industrialisation,
specifically the geographical organisation of families and organisation of labour to a high
degree affected child care practices. We found that child care practices are shaped in
adaption to society and by applying the feminist concept of the dichotomy of nature and
culture we found that the different cultural approaches to child care practices can be
understood as congruent with a greater or lesser opposition between the categories of
'nature' and 'culture' in a society.}},
  author       = {{Skou, Viktoria}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{In the Arms of Our Ancestors: The Universal Social Phenomenon of Human Child Care}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}