Policy Press
Five Places to go, things to do and people to see: space and activity in English youth work policy
Abstract
The chapter explores the development of youth work policy over a period of significant change under the 1997–2010 Labour governments. As a devolved activity, the English policy context has become increasing distinct from the other three UK jurisdictions. The underlying thesis presented is that social geographical perspectives offer, by drawing attention to the spatial-temporal dimension of the policy landscape, new insights into policy and practice. I argue that the spatial-temporal aspects inherent in recent policies have not been helpful for youth work. Drawing on MacIntyre’s account of a ‘social practice’, I argue that youth work policy has been led astray into forming distinct spaces for young people. What is required is a greater focus on a range of institutions that transcend space. Such Institutions offer young people a context within which to explore what is meant by, and how to pursue, a life worth living.
Abstract
The chapter explores the development of youth work policy over a period of significant change under the 1997–2010 Labour governments. As a devolved activity, the English policy context has become increasing distinct from the other three UK jurisdictions. The underlying thesis presented is that social geographical perspectives offer, by drawing attention to the spatial-temporal dimension of the policy landscape, new insights into policy and practice. I argue that the spatial-temporal aspects inherent in recent policies have not been helpful for youth work. Drawing on MacIntyre’s account of a ‘social practice’, I argue that youth work policy has been led astray into forming distinct spaces for young people. What is required is a greater focus on a range of institutions that transcend space. Such Institutions offer young people a context within which to explore what is meant by, and how to pursue, a life worth living.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables, figures and boxes vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- Acknowledgements xiv
- Editors’ introduction: critical geographies of childhood and youth 1
-
(Inter)national youth policies: politics and practices of spatial translation
- Making ‘youth publics’ and ‘neuro-citizens’: critical geographies of contemporary educational practice in the UK 27
- Youth policy, neoliberalism and transnational governmentality: a case study of Lesotho and Malawi 43
- ‘Brighter futures, greener lives’: children and young people in UK sustainable development policy 61
- Places to go, things to do and people to see: space and activity in English youth work policy 79
-
Education and employment policies: learning beyond schools and schools beyond learning
- The place of aspiration in UK widening participation policy: moving up or moving beyond? 97
- School choice versus social cohesion: examining the ways education policies shape children’s geographies in the UK 115
- Lunchtime lock-in: territorialisation and UK school meals policies 133
- Informal education in compulsory schooling in the UK: humanising moments, utopian spaces? 151
-
Intervening in ‘everyday life’: scales, practices and the ‘spatial imagination’ in youth policy and professional practice
- A free for all? Scale and young people’s participation in UK transport planning 169
- Including young people in heritage conservation in southern Brazilian cities: the case of Pelotas 185
- Anchoring identity: the construction of responsibility for and by young offenders in the US 199
- Parenting policy and the geographies of friendship: encounters in an English Sure Start Children’s Centre 215
- Youth homelessness policy in Wales: improving housing rights and addressing geographical wrongs 231
- Childhood in South Africa in the time of HIV/AIDS: reconsidering policy and practice 247
-
Concluding reflections
- Concluding reflections: what next and where next for critical geographies of youth policy and practice? 265
- Index 271
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables, figures and boxes vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- Acknowledgements xiv
- Editors’ introduction: critical geographies of childhood and youth 1
-
(Inter)national youth policies: politics and practices of spatial translation
- Making ‘youth publics’ and ‘neuro-citizens’: critical geographies of contemporary educational practice in the UK 27
- Youth policy, neoliberalism and transnational governmentality: a case study of Lesotho and Malawi 43
- ‘Brighter futures, greener lives’: children and young people in UK sustainable development policy 61
- Places to go, things to do and people to see: space and activity in English youth work policy 79
-
Education and employment policies: learning beyond schools and schools beyond learning
- The place of aspiration in UK widening participation policy: moving up or moving beyond? 97
- School choice versus social cohesion: examining the ways education policies shape children’s geographies in the UK 115
- Lunchtime lock-in: territorialisation and UK school meals policies 133
- Informal education in compulsory schooling in the UK: humanising moments, utopian spaces? 151
-
Intervening in ‘everyday life’: scales, practices and the ‘spatial imagination’ in youth policy and professional practice
- A free for all? Scale and young people’s participation in UK transport planning 169
- Including young people in heritage conservation in southern Brazilian cities: the case of Pelotas 185
- Anchoring identity: the construction of responsibility for and by young offenders in the US 199
- Parenting policy and the geographies of friendship: encounters in an English Sure Start Children’s Centre 215
- Youth homelessness policy in Wales: improving housing rights and addressing geographical wrongs 231
- Childhood in South Africa in the time of HIV/AIDS: reconsidering policy and practice 247
-
Concluding reflections
- Concluding reflections: what next and where next for critical geographies of youth policy and practice? 265
- Index 271
