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New Special Issue Co-Edited by Jan David Hauck and Francesca Mezzenzana

12.08.2025

A new special issue of Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale has recently been published. The issue, titled “Child Socialisation and Environmental Transformation in Indigenous South America,” was co-edited by ERC (European Research Council) Principal Investigator Jan David Hauck and Freigeist Fellow Francesca Mezzenzana.

The following abstract provides a summary of the issue’s introduction written by Hauck and Mezzenzana:

“The relationship of humans with the nonhuman world has become a central topic in anthropology in recent years. This has also led to a renewed interest in Indigenous communities, as those most vulnerable to environmental change, while also offering alternative modes of relating to the environment. But very little attention has been paid to children in such debates. Children will suffer the long-term consequences of changes. In turn, modes of relating to the environment and its human and nonhuman inhabitants are socialised during childhood. This special issue explores child socialisation in the face of environmental changes. Through ethnographic case studies from Guyana to southern Chile, our contributors discuss modes of learning across environments, the impact of moving to novel spaces, how children learn to navigate them, and the relationships they build. Our introduction gives a conceptual overview of our approach to child socialisation, the environment and change and transformation.” (Text from Berghahn Journals)

The introduction has also been uploaded to the Environment & Society Portal and is available for download from its Multimedia Library.

Full reference: Hauck, Jan David, and Francesca Mezzenzana, eds. “Child Socialisation and Environmental Transformation in Indigenous South America.” Special issue, Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale 33, no. 1 (March 2025). https://doi.org/10.3167/saas.2025.330101