Agency and Participation in Childhood and Youth

Caroline Sarojini Hart is Senior Lecturer in Education at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, and Affiliated Lecturer in Education at the University of Cambridge, UK.Mario Biggeri is Associate Professor of Development Economics at the University of Florence, Italy. Bernhard Babic is an independent social development consultant and researcher, and Senior Project Manager for Caritas, Germany.

• Introduction, Caroline Sarojini HartPart I: Agency and Participation in Childhood and Youth 1. The Capability Approach and Educational Research, Caroline Sarojini Hart (Sheffield Hallam University, UK)2. Education Policy for Agency and Participation, Mario Biggeri (University of Florence, Italy)3. The Capability Approach and Children's Rights, Daniel Stoecklin (Institut Universitaire Kurt Bosch, Switzerland) and Jean-Michel Bonvin (School of Health and Social Work, EESP (École d'Études Sociales et Pédagogiques), Switzerland)4. Agency, Participation and Youth Inequalities, Zoe Clark (Bielefeld University, Germany)5. Child Poverty from a Capability Perspective, Ortrud Lessmann (Helmut-Schmidt-Universität, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Germany)Part II: Developing Agency and Capabilities in Schools and Beyond6. Pedagogies to Develop Children's Agency in Schools, Marina Santi (University of Padova, Italy) and Diego Di Masi (University of Padova, Italy)7. Education and the Capabilities of Children with Special Needs, Christina Devecchi (University of Northampton, UK), Richard Rose (University of Northampton, UK) and Michael Shevlin (Trinity College, Dublin)8. Evaluating Children's Capabilities Enhancement in Schools, John Schischka (Christchurch Polytechnic University of Technology, New Zealand)9. Agency, Participation and Transitions Beyond School, Caroline Hart (Sheffield Hallam University, UK)10. School Enrolment and Child Labour, Zina Nimeh (Maastricht University, Netherlands) and Robert Bauchmuller (Maastricht University, Netherlands) 11. Children's Autonomy in Conflict-Affected Countries, Jérôme Ballet (UMI Résiliences), Claudine Dumbi (Higher Institute of Agro-Veterinary Science, Kimwenza) and Benoit Lallau (University of Lille, France)12. Youth Participation outside the Classroom, Vittorio Iervese (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), Italy) and Luisa Tuttolomondo (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), Italy)Concluding Remarks, Caroline Sarojini Hart (Sheffield Hallam University, UK), Mario Biggeri (University of Florence, Italy), Bernhard Babic (Caritas, Germany) and Clemens Sedmak (King's College London, UK)Subject IndexAuthor Index

In this important and challenging book the authors make a strong case for the ‘capability approach’ as a framework for promoting real freedom, and for applying that concept to a social category which is treated as far less than human, children. This book is a powerful argument to look at childhood, education and youth through the capability lens and treat children with the dignity and respect to which they are entitled. It is a demanding new agenda for the interaction between children and adults. We must cease seeing children as adults in waiting, and see adulthood as dependent upon the development of real freedoms in children.