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Look Inside The Importance of Being Innocent

The Importance of Being Innocent
Why We Worry About Children

Author: Joanne Faulkner, University of New South Wales, Sydney

Date Published: November 2010
availability: Temporarily unavailable - available from TBC
format: Paperback
isbn: 9780521146975

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About the Authors

The Importance of Being Innocent addresses the current debate in Australia and internationally regarding the sexualisation of children, predation on them by pedophiles and the risks apparently posed to their 'innate innocence' by perceived problems and threats in contemporary society. Joanne Faulkner argues that, contrary to popular opinion, social issues have been sensationally expounded in moral panics about children who are often presented as alternatively obese, binge-drinking and drug-using, self-harming, neglected, abused, medicated and driven to anti-social behavior by TV and computers. This erudite and thought-provoking book instead suggests that modern western society has reacted to problems plaguing the adult world by fetishizing children as innocents, who must be protected from social realities. Taking a philosophical and sociological perspective, it outlines the various historical trends, emotional investments and social tensions that shape contemporary ideas about what childhood represents, and our responsibilities in regard to children.
- Addresses challenging subject matter from a philosophical standpoint, including obesity, violence, drug use, consumerism and pedophilia
- Looks at what we should do with children that fit the mould
- Explores the reasons why we idealise childhood and outlines the best way to understand and value children
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Product details
- Date Published: November 2010
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521146975
- length: 176 pages
- dimensions: 229 x 154 x 12 mm
- weight: 0.24kg
- availability: Temporarily unavailable - available from TBC
Table of Contents
1. Why Do We Worry About Children?
2. Consuming the Innocence
3. The Communal Fantasy and Its Discontents
4. 'Disciplining' Innocence
5. Fallen Innocent
6. When Fantasies Become Nightmares.
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Author
Joanne Faulkner, University of New South Wales, Sydney
Joanne Faulkner is an Australian Research Council (ARC) postdoctoral fellow, School of History and Philosophy, University of New South Wales.