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In this landmark book, sociologist Viviana Zelizer traces the emergence
of the modern child, at once economically "useless" and emotionally
"priceless," from the late 1800s to the 1930s. Having established laws
removing many children from the marketplace, turn-of-the-century
America was discovering new, sentimental criteria to determine a
child's monetary worth. The he... More

In this landmark book, sociologist Viviana Zelizer traces the emergence
of the modern child, at once economically "useless" and emotionally
"priceless," from the late 1800s to the 1930s. Having established laws
removing many children from the marketplace, turn-of-the-century
America was discovering new, sentimental criteria to determine a
child's monetary worth. The heightened emotional status of children
resulted, for example, in the legal justification of children's life
insurance policies and in large damages awarded by courts to their
parents in the event of death. A vivid account of changing attitudes
toward children, this book dramatically illustrates the limits of
economic views of life that ignore the pervasive role of social,
cultural, emotional, and moral factors in our marketplace
world.

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