The socialization perspective was almost the exclusive way to approach children in sociological theory and research up to the 1970s; it implied that childhood was a phase of transition to adulthood and conceived of children only as social actors-in-the-becoming. However, Empirical research on situations of socialization which showed that such situations depend on the social competence of all participants led to revisions of this conception. Therefore, approaches of socialization were developed that attributed more activity to the child. The “new” sociology of childhood conceived of the child as social actor and showed that such agency was not limited to personality development but included participation in the social world. Childhood is marked by inequality in regard to the actual conditions of growing up and in future chances. Research on this issue can profitably link different scientific perspectives on children and socialization.