The “Child's Eye” View and its Social Resonance: A. F. Davies and Sociology *

Abstract

In his contribution to the first issue of what is now the Journal of Sociology, Alan Davies explored the resonance of what he terms “the child's eye” in the emotionally charged formation of a class scheme and its persistence into adult life. In miniature, Davies’ 1965 article illustrates major themes and concerns that recur throughout his research and writing. My purpose herein is to reflect on both the 1965 article itself and on Davies’ academic work overall, and his broader contribution to Sociology in Australia. His emphasis on the child's subjective and, as I term it, idiosyncratic experience of socialization is a recurrent feature of his far broader engagement with skills, outlooks and passions as they play out in social and political relations. I also highlight Davies’ early and highly original focus on emotions and their role in the organization of both subjectivity and social and political relations.