Abstract
In Norway, traditional constructions of a good childhood ‘in nature’ are repeated in diverse domains, supported by politics, and are in accordance with cultural ideas of a good life for everyone (Gullestad, 1997; Nilsen, 2008). At the same time, childhood today involves an increasing process of institutionalization, which interconnects with the individualization process. Hence the majority of children below six years of age regularly depart from their family and home to attend daycare centres (barnehager). In contrast to localization in natural environments, educational institutions may be thought of as providing a specific and ‘fenced’ childhood space separated from the rest of society. Further, and of relevance in this chapter, such institutions are usually materially fenced-in, adult-organized and structured places of buildings and playgrounds (Nilsen, 2000; Zeiher, 2003). In a Norwegian context, tension may arise between such features of modern childhood and traditional constructions of a‘good’ childhood outdoors related to the spatial realm of home and neighbourhood (Kjørholt and Tingstad, 2007), in which playing in non-fenced places and areas of the natural environment are highly valued (Nilsen, 2008).
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© 2012 Randi Dyblie Nilsen
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Nilsen, R.D. (2012). Flexible Spaces – Flexible Subjects in ‘Nature’. In: Kjørholt, A.T., Qvortrup, J. (eds) The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230314054_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230314054_12
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