Conclusion: Lived Childhoods

Abstract

The conclusion highlights how the chapters in this collection contribute to a deeper analysis of relevant issues for future theoretical investigation, above all concerning children’s ‘real’ lives or ‘lived childhood’. These issues include a reflection on the variety of theoretical angles available for analysing lived childhood and their possible combination; the impact of institutions on lived childhood; the meaning of the glocal dimension of lived childhood; and the analysis of the different dimensions of lived childhood, such as gender, social class and ethnicity. The conclusion discusses the forms and conditions of lived childhood that are not visible in intergenerational relations because they are constructed among children themselves. They offer the possibility of subverting the existing social and cultural presuppositions of childhood by elaborating the actual lived conditions and meanings of childhood in respect of children’s citizenship, rights and participation.