Children are not born as ideologues: so how and when do they
become racists, nationalists, socialists, colonialists or
subjects? And children are not necessarily born into ideologies:
provincial societies do not become nations overnight; the
transition from, say, communist revolution to hegemony is both
gradual and uneven; and families may react to encroaching
political or religious orthodoxies by eagerly adopting, opposing
or just ignoring them. Children are thus often born into
ambiguity and flux: the question is whether they eventually
accept a social consensus and become citizens, or oppose it and
become temporary or permanent rebels. So childhood is perhaps
most interesting at those historical junctures where social
identities are strongly contested, when children grow up between
constellations of competing authorities, identities and
opportunities – familial, religious, political, economic,
racial, national and sexual. Albert Camus’s autobiographical
novel, The First Man, is a great source on white sett