‘Border crossings’: Transitions of Children and Youth in Times of Crisis paper session

4th International Conference on Geographies of Children, Young People and Families, San Diego, California: January 12-15, 2015

Session organiser: Helena Pimlott-Wilson (Loughborough University)

Session Theme
Global transformations are rapidly altering young peoples’ experiences of growing up (Jeffrey, 2010).   The recent economic crisis has placed pressure on national economies and labour markets throughout the world; yet, the impacts of restructuring have been uneven within nations.  In particular, the impact on children and youth is noteworthy (see Edwards and Weller 2010) as young people navigate present challenges and look towards the future.  This session aims to raise questions about the way in which the current economic downturn affects both the current lived experiences of children and youth, and their transitions in education, employment, housing and relationships.  The session conceives the over-arching conference theme of ‘borders’ in a variety of ways; including those that are abstract, experiential, imagined and tangible. While the border might be a point in time such as leaving home or seeking paid work, it might also be events of economic change, or be existing or new kinds of borders that emerge or loom as a result of such change, such as borders of poverty, partnership dissolution and un/employment.

This session aims to bring together research exploring the transitions of children and youth in austere times from a variety of (inter)national contexts.  The session aims to consider the breadth and depth of such economic change as experienced by children and youth in relation to the frontiers of the past, present and future. It will focus on how children and youth cope during such turbulent times, and how they draw on the past, present and future to do so.  It will examine how experiences, perceptions and understandings of the future and futurity according to children and youth have been shaped by recent economic changes, and likewise how they feel about the future in relation to past and on-going events.

This session will explore all aspects of transition for children and youth in the context of economic crisis.
Topics prospective contributors might wish to address include, but are not limited to:

• dimensions of the education-to-work transition including earnings, job security, occupational attainment and working conditions;

• housing and domestic transitions;

• critical approaches to aspirations;

• employment, unemployment and job insecurity (past, present and future)

• coping strategies during, and experiences of, economic change;

• changing understandings of the markers of adulthood;

Being Involved
Please send your title and abstract of a maximum of 250 words by Friday 17th July 2014 to Helena Pimlott-Wilson (H.Pimlott-Wilson@lboro.ac.uk) Thank you