Children's Knowledge, Beliefs and Feelings about Nations and National Groups

Book excerpt: This book provides a state-of-the-art account of how people's subjective sense of national identity, and attitudes towards countries and national groups, develop through the course of childhood and adolescence. It offers a comprehensive review of the research which has been conducted into: . children's understanding of nations as geographical territories and as political, historical and cultural communities . children's knowledge, beliefs and feelings about the people who belong to different national groups . children's attitudes towards, and emotional attachment to, their own country and national group. The authors elaborate on the developmental patterns that have been found to emerge, contextualized by a consideration and evaluation of the theoretical frameworks which can be used to explain these patterns. Written by the leading international authority in this field, and reporting (in collaboration with his colleagues) the findings from two major transnational research projects, this book will be invaluable to postgraduate students and researchers working in this field. The book will also be of great benefit to undergraduate students taking courses in Developmental Psychology, the Sociology of Childhood, and Education.