Policy Press
One Charting change in the participatory settings of childhood: a very modest beginning
Abstract
This chapter is based directly on a lecture that the author gave in Swansea in 2006, and introduces the overarching themes of spaces for children to self-organise and the ways in which they can or cannot exercise control over their lives. It reviews forty years of ‘progress’ in children’s participation, suggesting that the same period has seen an erosion of children’s visibility in public space and of their opportunities to organise for themselves, and a reduction in their interaction with adults. It develops a model for mapping children and young people’s participation visually, and argues for a move away from looking simply at ‘participation’ as currently defined, to focus more broadly on how public and communal life can be revived for all generations.
Abstract
This chapter is based directly on a lecture that the author gave in Swansea in 2006, and introduces the overarching themes of spaces for children to self-organise and the ways in which they can or cannot exercise control over their lives. It reviews forty years of ‘progress’ in children’s participation, suggesting that the same period has seen an erosion of children’s visibility in public space and of their opportunities to organise for themselves, and a reduction in their interaction with adults. It develops a model for mapping children and young people’s participation visually, and argues for a move away from looking simply at ‘participation’ as currently defined, to focus more broadly on how public and communal life can be revived for all generations.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements iv
- Notes on contributors v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: children, politics and communication 1
- Charting change in the participatory settings of childhood: a very modest beginning 7
- Children’s autonomous organisation: reflections from the ground 31
- The children of Loxicha: participation beyond the UNCRC rhetoric? 49
- Displaced children’s participation in political violence: towards greater understanding of mobilisation 69
- Between a rock and a hard place: negotiating age and identity in the UK asylum system 89
- Understanding silences and secrets when working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children 107
- Doing Britishness: multilingual practices, creativity and criticality of British Chinese children 123
- Closings in young children’s disputes: resolution, dissipation and teacher intervention 145
- Keeping connected: textual cohesion and textual selves, how young people stay together online 167
- Conclusion: autonomy, dialogue and recognition 185
- Index 199
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements iv
- Notes on contributors v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: children, politics and communication 1
- Charting change in the participatory settings of childhood: a very modest beginning 7
- Children’s autonomous organisation: reflections from the ground 31
- The children of Loxicha: participation beyond the UNCRC rhetoric? 49
- Displaced children’s participation in political violence: towards greater understanding of mobilisation 69
- Between a rock and a hard place: negotiating age and identity in the UK asylum system 89
- Understanding silences and secrets when working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children 107
- Doing Britishness: multilingual practices, creativity and criticality of British Chinese children 123
- Closings in young children’s disputes: resolution, dissipation and teacher intervention 145
- Keeping connected: textual cohesion and textual selves, how young people stay together online 167
- Conclusion: autonomy, dialogue and recognition 185
- Index 199
