Call for papers: RGS-IBG Annual
International Conference, 27-29th August 2008, London
Title: “Youth Matters? Critical
geographies of youth policy and practice”
Convenors: Peter Kraftl (Department of Geography, University of Leicester, UK)
John Horton (Centre for Children & Youth, The University of Northampton, UK)
Faith Tucker (Centre for Children & Youth, The University of Northampton, UK)
Research group affiliation: Geographies of Children, Youth
and Families Working Group
Abstract:
As part of an engagement with policy literatures and
professional practices (e.g. public service provision) ‘outside’
the academy, a growing number of geographers have sought to adopt more critical
stances to governmental discourses (Martin, 2001). For instance, (post-)medical
geographers have performed critical readings of mental health (Parr, 2004) and
obesity (Evans, 2006) policy-making in the UK and elsewhere. Geographers of
childhood and youth have – similarly – sought to engage critically
with policy-making for young people, often with particular interest in
children’s participation in the production of governmental knowledge
(e.g. special issue of Children’s
Geographies journal, 2006). Yet geographers have not – thus
far – explored the full range of social constructions, representations,
viewpoints, practices and (often emotive) debates that are incorporated in
policy and professional practices targeted at young people. In particular, four
issues might benefit from critical, geographical analysis.
First, there is a pressing need to understand the spatial
implications of the contexts and the contents of recent policy documents aimed
specifically at young people (e.g. in the UK, Youth Matters). Second, geographers might extend their
critical analyses to explore the treatment of young people in more general
pieces of legislation (e.g. on health, employment, education or crime). Third,
there is a need to understand the complex and recursive relationship between
(inter)national policy-making on one hand, and regional/local interpretations
on the other (e.g. in the UK,
the recent introduction of Children’s Trusts). In particular – with
nuanced conceptualisations of scale – geographers could unpick the
interpretation, negotiation and implementation of youth policy legislation at
different spatial scales. Fourth, geographers could attend to the sheer
diversity of ways in which ‘policy’ and ‘professional
practice’ with young people are performed
– acknowledging and interrogating the sheer work involved in meetings,
consultations, training, providing services ‘on the ground’,
to/with young people and their families.
We welcome abstracts for 20-minute papers which critically
analyse the geographies of youth policy and professional practice within any
geographical context. Papers may attend to any of the following issues, or any
geographical slant on the documentation, representation and performance of
youth policies.
- Representations and social
constructions of young people in youth policies, and policy interventions
more generally.
- The types of knowledges,
emotions and moralities evident in youth policies.
- The relationship between
policy documents, professional practices and other representations of
young people (e.g. the mass media).
- The diverse ways in which
youth has come to ‘matter’ in global/national/local
policy-making since the UN declaration on the rights of the child.
- The implications of policy
discourse and professional practice for emergent ‘inter-generational’
geographies of age (e.g. Hopkins
and Pain, 2007).
- The processes and practices
involved in interpreting (inter)national youth policies at local scales.
- The everyday practices,
materials and emotions that constitute professional practice and work with
young people (e.g. Kraftl and Horton, 2007); e.g. meetings, consultations,
training, and the provision services ‘on the ground’, to/with
young people and their families.
- Young people’s views
and experiences of recent youth policies and professional practice (i.e.
of ‘service provision’).
- Young people’s
‘place’ in the production and contestation of youth policies
and professional practices.
- The role of academic
geography in contributing to, and contesting, youth policies
Abstracts for proposed papers (max. 250 words) should be
submitted to Peter Kraftl ([log in to unmask])
before 31st January 2008.
