Children, young people and social inclusion

This book asks how far and in what way social inclusion policies are meeting the needs and rights of children and young people. Leading authors write from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines including social policy, education, geography and sociology. The book critically examines the concepts of participation and social inclusion and their links with children and childhoods and considers the geography of social inclusion and exclusion. It explores young people's own conceptualisations of social inclusion and exclusion; and examines how these concepts have been expressed in policy at various levels.The book concludes with an agenda for progressing participation and social inclusion, both for and with children and young people."Children, young people and social inclusion" will be of interest to academics, students and policy makers, as well as to a wide range of practitioners including teachers, youth workers, participation workers and those working in interagency settings.

"A welcome addition to the literature." Annie Franklin, Youth & Policy "This book is recommended reading for anyone involved in developing or researching participation, strategic management and those wanting to develop skills and knowledge in working in this way. It covers a wide variety of important issues and offers both a theoretical and practical way forward for staff at all levels within agencies working with and for children, including the new Children's Trust arrangements in the UK." British Journal of Social Work "By bringing together theory and research on the social exclusion of children and the social participation of children, this book makes important conceptual strides towards a vision of citizenship in a participatory democracy for all. It reveals that, while there have been advances in enabling children and youth to have a voice in society, much needs to be done to improve how we listen to marginalized children in addressing issues of poverty and the uneven distribution of resources and services. In so doing it projects an important agenda for future inter-disciplinary research with children." Roger Hart, Director of the Children's Environments Research Group (CERG), The City University of New York

John Davis is Co-ordinator of the BA in Childhood Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Malcolm Hill is Director of the Glasgow Centre for the Child & Society at the University of Glasgow, Alan Prout is Professor of Sociology and Childhood Studies at the Institute of Education at Warwick University and Kay Tisdall is Programme Director of the MSc in Childhood Studies, at the University of Edinburgh.