For too long, conceptions of childhood have been in thrall to linear, teleological, normative, developmental notions of child growth. Educational prescriptions are often built on this narrow epistemological foundation, further narrowed by disciplinary regimes focused on compliance, and curriculum regimes focused on mastery of testable factoids of information. This book with its diverse, multidisciplinary scholarship, and searching inquiry into the meaning and experiences of children, offers a powerful counter-narrative, and opens up a space for thinking of children in terms that refuse fixity and binaries, and offers up powerful metaphors for how we might assist children in coming to be and in experiencing the liberatory possibilities of expansive subjectivity and critical imagination.

Michael O'Loughlin, Adelphi University

This insightful collection makes a significant and critical contribution to our understanding of Philosophy of Childhood. Key issues are comprehensively addressed and important questions are raised that demand consideration in determining the place of children in society.

Claire Cassidy, University of Strathclyde

This is a timely and welcome contribution to the increasingly important and diverse field of childhood studies. The essays span a wide range of topics and perspectives and offers a radical and deep theoretical perspective that will empower practitioners and researchers in this field. Contributors include respected authorities and newer voices, who ensure that this book needs to be read by anyone who values children’s voices and lives in dialogic meaning-making.

Darren Garside, Bath Spa University