Childhood and Markets: Infants, Parents and the Business of Child Caring

Lydia Martens explores how young children and new families are located in the consumer world of affluent societies.

She assesses the way in which the value of infants and monetary value in markets are realised together, and examines how the meanings of childhood are enacted in the practices, narratives and materialities of contemporary markets.

These meanings formulate what is important in the care of young children, creating moralities that impact not only on new parents, but also circumscribe the possibilities for monetary value creation.

Three main understandings of early childhood - those of love, protection and purification - and their interrelationships are covered, and illustrated with examples including food, feeding tools, nappies, travel systems and toys.