The Future of Childhood (Paperback)

Alan Prout discusses the place of children and childhood in the late modernity. He argues that as the general social and economic climate has been increasingly dominated by uncertainty, so there appears to be a greater cultural confusion about the appropriate form that childhood should take. There is an increasing tendency to see children as individuals with rights, however, there are also calls for, and measures to implement, the greater surveillance, control and regulation of children. This volume addresses this issue. It shows that the social, economic and technological uncertainties, and the pace of change in the late modernity, have brought child-adult relationships to the point of crisis.
The book looks at the issues involved in balancing the well-being, and future well-being of children in industrialised countries. These assessments of future wellbeing are based around recent research looking at social trends in several countries. Importantly, the book also looks at the inclusion and participation of young people in the decision-making process.