A World of Many: Ontology and Child Development among the Maya of Southern Mexico

A World of Many explores how Tzotzil Maya children from two localities create their worlds through their agency and the impact of their social and physical environment. It demonstrates that their experiences with schooling, parenting, goals, values, climate change, water scarcity, racism, and settler colonialism shape their emerging worlds, which are not make-believe but ontological products of their parents. By creating different worlds, the children fashion themselves into different human beings, becoming different in the world. The book combines experimental research from the cognitive sciences with critical theory, understanding children as tinkerers and thinkers, makers of their worlds amidst complex relations. It emphasizes that being is a constant ontological production, where life and living constitute activism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 230 pages
Publication date: 13 January 2023
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

A World of Many delves into the captivating world-making endeavors of Tzotzil Maya children residing in two distinct localities within the municipality of Chenalhó, Chiapas. This research not only showcases the remarkable agency of children in shaping their own realities but also delves into the intricate interplay between the surrounding social and physical environment and their creative processes. Despite their diverse experiences with schooling, parenting, goals, and values, as well as the challenges posed by climate change, water scarcity, racism, and settler colonialism, these children are driven to construct their emerging worlds. It is important to note that these worlds are not mere figments of their imagination or anything less than the ontological products of their parents. Instead, Norbert Ross argues that by creating different worlds, children ultimately fashion themselves into distinct human beings, literally being different in the world.

A World of Many employs a multidisciplinary approach, drawing upon experimental research from the cognitive sciences and integrating it with critical theory. This fusion allows for a comprehensive understanding of children's agency in devising their own ontologies. Rather than perceiving children as incomplete beings, the book recognizes them as active tinkerers and thinkers, actively engaged in the creation of their worlds amidst the intricate web of complex relations. It views being as a continuous ontological production, where life and living themselves constitute activism. Through experimental paradigms, the book compellingly demonstrates that children locate themselves differently within these emerging worlds they forge, thereby undergoing a transformative process that leads to their becoming distinct human beings.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978830318