Debates and challenges in the sociology of childhood facing a new era

The sociology of childhood has been explicitly recognized by some authors as the structuring element of current childhood social studies, characterized by three key features: the very concept of childhood as a social category, the recognition of children as subjects with a role in society and the generational character of the childhood-society and childadult relationships. Under their umbrella an intense research activity has been developed which has not been free of internal criticism, whose lessons can be used even more at this time, when the way out from the pandemic produced by COVID-19, as a global event, confronts us with uncertainty. Through the analysis of the theoretical production carried out in the field of sociology and childhood studies in recent years, this article gives an account of the main debates that have taken place, while pointing out the challenges both face to make childhood count and that children and young people count in sociological analysis.