'Diverse childhoods in international contexts: gender and other social and cultural differences'

Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.

16-18 July 2009

Sponsored by:

Geography and Gender Research Group, Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Working Group of the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers.

Children's Geographies: a Taylor and Francis Journal.

Confirmed keynote speakers include:

Dr Louise Holt (University of Reading, UK)

Dr Lia Karsten (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Professor Cindi Katz (City University of New York, USA)

The conference is the second of a bi-annual international conference series* that has been prompted by the current international vitality of geographies of children, young people and families. The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for the exchange of different knowledges, ideas and experiences from researchers and practitioners working in variety of international contexts and disciplinary fields, who are interested in exploring and advancing any aspect of geographies of children, youth and families.

The unifying conference theme is 'Diverse childhoods in international contexts: gender and other social and cultural differences'.

This conferences series provides a collaborative attempt to enhance geographical conceptualisations of childhood and youth by more fully establishing children and young people in their diverse socio-spatial contexts and focusing on and exploring diversity among children, youth and families. It is hoped that the advances facilitated by critical understandings of childhood and youth will be taken forward. At the same time, the conference provides a forum to begin to collectively address some of the critiques recently levelled at geographies of children and youth, drawing upon stimulating current research.

This aim of second international conference is to build upon and enhance dialogue between feminists and other scholars of social difference and researchers of geographies of children, youth and families working within a range of international contexts. Themes to be explored could include, without being limited to:

* Children and young people in their families and households from a gender perspective.

* Inter-subjective relationships and the construction of child/youthful subjects.

* Children's mobilities and migrations.

* The experiences of children and young people who are particularly 'othered' via dominant assumptions of agency, such as those with disabilities, mental ill-health and socio-emotional differences.

* How children and young people are variously socio-spatially positioned in relation to a variety of axes of power and broader material socio-spatial processes.

* Children and young people's social networks and relationships.

* Children's and young people's differentiated experience of 'risk'.

* Examining the methodological and ethical implications of re-examining the sociological child.

* Children and young people's emotional geographies/geographies of affect.

*Public policies and children's participation.

More broadly, the conference is designed to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and networking between researchers interested in any field of geographies of children, young people and families. With this in mind, the key theme is designed as a starting point to stimulate debate and discussion; papers therefore are invited that detail any aspect of geographies of children, youth and families.

Abstracts (maximum of 200 words) for papers should be sent to Maria Prats Ferret (Maria.Prats@uab.cat) by 30th January 2009.

* The first Conference took place at the University of Reading (UK). The Third International Conference on Geographies of Children, Youth and Families is scheduled to take place in Melbourne, Australia.

A number of travel bursaries are available to support postgraduate researchers and scholars or practitioners with limited resources to attend the conference.