The issue of child labor continues to challenge thinking on the nature of work, play,
schooling and apprenticeship. New wisdom from some contemporary academic writing
places children closer to the center of our understanding of consumption, production
and reproduction, and at the heart of inequities generated by globalization. Child
labor comes in many forms and intersects with local life and global processes in a
myriad of ways. The child laborers in this study work as
‘volunteer’ checkout packers in Tijuana supermarkets. By
highlighting aspects of their complex daily lives, this article develops new ways of
thinking about children's work socially and spatially, while acknowledging
the global contexts of this work.
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