Prelude: The Genesis of History in the Mind of Children. Introduction: Instituting Society: The Developmental Thesis. THE EVIDENCE: EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF CHILDREN'S SOCIETAL GRASP: Children Playing Society. Coconstructing Social Reality. Culture and Pretend Play: Zulu Children at Play. Peer Society. Peer Culture. Society and Speechforself. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: STUDIES FROM RELATED FIELDS: From Anthropology: Children Making History. From Psychoanalysis: Jacques Lacan on the Child's Entry into the Symbolic Order. From Ethology: Communication and Society. THEORIES OF SOCIETY: Developmental Perspectives. Political Perspectives. Marxist Cultural Perspectives. CONCLUSION: The Grasp for Society. The Plot of the Mental Object Capacity: There Is More to Piaget's Permanent Object than Meets the Eye. Postlude: The Nightmare of History. Index.