Growing Up and Away

Narratives of Indian Childhoods: Memory, History, Identity

This book aims to expand our understanding of the role of institutions, norms, and key players in shaping the evolution of child rights in India. It traces the evolution of the child rights discourse in post-Independence India, suggesting that there are different and political ways of thinking about childhoods. Divided into three parts, the book begins with analyses of the effects of Partition, which while creating new political and cultural identities framed the child–State relationship. The second part further examines the ways in which the multiplicity of discourses during the nationalist struggle gave way to a singular view, seen in later public conversations on children and their rights. The third part explores the narratives of continuity and change, and maps the departures of memory, history, and identity. The book emphasizes the point that more than any other event or process, the violence and fears aroused by Partition have influenced the course of modern child development related policymaking. The relationship between the political and cultural identities of all the actors, who influenced the experience of childhoods, had also been deeply affected by these events.