Nervios and `Modern Childhood'

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Abstract
This article addresses a culturally specific depression-like disorder (nervios) among children living in the southern Ecuadorian Andes. Characterized by symptoms as varied as melancholy and anger, nervios is said to strike when children are separated from their parents, specifically fathers, who commonly migrate to the US. Nervios serves as a generative site for analyzing the local meanings and practices of children and childhood within wider national and global economic processes. Specifically, it is argued that beyond explanations predicated on psychological ideas of separation and attachment, the malady reflects the limits of children's abilities to accept the terms of family life increasingly defined through transnational migration and new consumption practices. Ultimately, this article suggests that nervios aids children by giving voice to life changes they do not completely understand.