Beyond otherness: exploring diverse spatialities and mobilities of childhood and youth populations

Abstract

This paper sets the context for the special edition. The themed collection begins to address questions raised about the level of engagement of Geographies of Children and Youth with wider social and cultural theory. We argue that there are some commonalities with critiques levelled at Population Geography, and suggest that dialogue between the two subdisciplines provides a useful way forward. We suggest going beyond the ‘otherness’ of childhood to consider how children, young people, and adults are dissected and connected by axes of difference and similarity which reproduce broader‐scale ‘population’ (in)equalities. Key themes emerging from this dialogue by the papers in the special edition include an emphasis on small‐scale micro‐mobilities (e.g. between the school and home, and around locales), which are essential aspects of everyday life. Despite their importance, these micro‐mobilities have been somewhat neglected by population geographers as they do not create sustained demographic shifts. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A good move? Young people’s comparisons of rural and urban living in Britain

“…The extent to which the young people felt they needed to express their overall positivity about their new rural lifestyles, despite detailing many negative aspects, also needs to be considered within the context of the pervasive narrative of the 'rural idyll'. The findings further highlight the diversity and complexity of young people's lives in rural spaces, addressing the call by Holt and Costello (2011) for increased attention to the micro-mobilities of young people's everyday lives. A focus on young counterurban migrants' everyday lives in rural locations has shown gender (and sometimes age) to be important, which may be useful in informing future rural youth studies which move beyond the migrant/non-migrant binary.…”

Diverse spaces of childhood and youth: gender and other socio-cultural differences

“…Although the papers by Wells, Ni Laoire and Mas Giralt frame children's experiences within the global context of transnational migration, such 'large scale' movements through space are only made possible through ongoing everyday mobilities at the 'local scale' (see also Holt and Costello 2011). Indeed, these papers reveal how migrant children's lives are characterised by diverse movements, social ties and interactions in their neighbourhoods, schools, families and through transnational and virtual communities.…”

“…Important questions have been raised about the scope and scale of research being conducted, about theoretical debates and the direction of the sub-field and its status within the wider discipline (Horton and Kraftl 2006a, Hopkins and Pain 2007, Vanderbeck 2008, Ansell 2009). Pivotal here are issues surrounding the forging of children's geographies as a distinctive sub-disciplinary field and the extent to which geographies of children and youth are informed by and influence theoretical debates in the broader discipline (Horton and Kraftl 2006a, also Beale 2006, Holt and Costello 2011. The issue of ghettoisation of children's geographies has also meant that the bulk of geography and the social sciences continues to deploy uncritical 'common sense' ideas and discourses of childhood.…”

“…Alongside the importance of friendship and social networks to children's identities and practices, Ni Laoire's and Wells' papers also point to migration, mobilities and (how they are interwoven with) processes of racialisation as important socio-cultural markers of difference that shape the everyday lives of children and youth as part of the ongoing process of social becoming (see also Thomas 2005, Valentine and Sporton 2009, Holt and Costello 2011, Hopkins et al 2011.…”

New Street Geographies: The Impact of Urban Governance on the Mobilities of Cape Town’s Street Youth

“…Through this process, I develop a novel conceptualisation of the changing nature of street geographies and its significance for wider international policy on street youth's lives. Holt and Costello (2011) postulate that the contributions children/youth can make to our understanding of daily life through exploring their mobility practices has, in some ways, been overlooked. Although calls for bringing children/youth into migration research, which deals with broader trends and analysis of demographic shifts and patterns, are being responded to (McKendrick, 2001; van Blerk and Ansell, 2006); the micro mobilities of children/youth's lives, those daily movements around local areas and between home, school and street, require more attention (Holt and Costello, 2011).…”