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Childhood is increasingly saturated by technology: from television to the Internet, video games to 'video nasties', camcorders to personal computers. Children, Technology and Culture looks at the interplay of children and technology which poses critical questions for how we understand the nature of childhood in late modern society. This collection brings together researchers from a range of disciplines to address the following four aspects of this relationship between children and technology:*children's access to technologies and the implications for social relationships*the structural context

A text which addresses the relationship between childhood, competence and the social arenas of action in which children live. The contributors develop a picture of children as competent, sophisticated social agents, focusing on the contexts which both enable and constrain that competence

En un momento en que el futuro de la democracia está en juego, es necesario reconocer la importancia de la contribución que los "nuevos" estudios de la infancia pueden hacer para asegurar ese futuro, particularmente con respecto a establecer la importancia de la agencia y la competencia social de los niños (en diferentes ámbitos de la vida cotidiana) como actores sociales políticos. La combinación de estos reconocimientos con la tarea de conceptualizar las políticas de infancia (en forma de políticas con niños) y un desarrollo emancipador en el campo de los derechos del niño es vital para unos debates socio-teóricos y socio-políticos más completos sobre las soluciones al problema de un futuro humano positivo para todas las generaciones. En este artículo mostramos cómo las conceptualizaciones y el trabajo empírico de los estudios de infancia realzan el papel que los derechos de los niños pueden desempeñar en la mejora de los procesos democráticos en el nivel de la sociedad, es decir, en la participación real. Esto va más allá de la tendencia a tratar los derechos de los niños como una cuestión de interés individual, en su lugar se aboga por una consideración de los derechos y de la agencia de los niños como una condición social para la democracia.

In a time where the future of democracy is at stake, it is necessary to recognize the significance of the contribution that the "new" childhood studies can make to securing that future, particularly with respect to establishing the importance of the agency and social competence (in different arenas of everyday life) of children as political social actors. The combination of these recognitions with the task of conceptualizing childhood politics (as politics with children) and an emancipatory development in the field of children's rights is vital for fuller socio-theoretical and socio-political debates on solutions to the problem of positive human future for all generations. In this paper, we show how the conceptualizations and empirical work from childhood studies enhance the role that children's rights can play in the improvement of democratic processes at a societal level, i.e. real participation. This is something that goes way beyond the tendency to treat children's rights as an individual concern, arguing instead for a consideration of children's rights and agency as a social requirement for democracy.

En un momento en que el futuro de la democracia está en juego, es necesario reconocer la importancia de la contribución que los "nuevos" estudios de la infancia pueden hacer para asegurar ese futuro, particularmente con respecto a establecer la importancia de la agencia y la competencia social de los niños (en diferentes ámbitos de la vida cotidiana) como actores sociales políticos. La combinación de estos reconocimientos con la tarea de conceptualizar las políticas de infancia (en forma de políticas con niños) y un desarrollo emancipador en el campo de los derechos del niño es vital para unos debates socio-teóricos y socio-políticos más completos sobre las soluciones al problema de un futuro humano positivo para todas las generaciones. En este artículo mostramos cómo las conceptualizaciones y el trabajo empírico de los estudios de infancia realzan el papel que los derechos de los niños pueden desempeñar en la mejora de los procesos democráticos en el nivel de la sociedad, es decir, en la participación real. Esto va más allá de la tendencia a tratar los derechos de los niños como una cuestión de interés individual, en su lugar se aboga por una consideración de los derechos y de la agencia de los niños como una condición social para la democracia. ; Numa época em que o futuro da democracia está em jogo, é necessário reconhecer o significado da contribuição que os "novos" estudos da infância podem ter para assegurar o mesmo, particularmente em relação ao estabelecimento da importância da competência social e da agência das crianças como atores sociais e políticos (em diferentes âmbitos da vida quotidiana). A combinação deste reconhecimento com a tarefa de conceptualizar as políticas de infância (em forma de políticas com crianças) e um desenvolvimento emancipador no plano dos direitos das crianças é essencial para debates socioteóricos e sociopolíticos mais completos sobre as soluções do problema de um futuro humano positivo para todas as gerações. Neste artigo, mostra-se como as conceptualizações e o trabalho empírico dos estudos da infância realçam o papel que os direitos das crianças podem desempenhar na melhoria dos processos democráticos ao nível da sociedade, ou seja, na participação real. Isto vai para além da tendência de tratar os direitos das crianças como um assunto de interesse individual. Em lugar disso, defende-se que se considerem os direitos e a agência das crianças como uma condição social para a democracia. ; In a time where the future of democracy is at stake, it is necessary to recognize the significance of the contribution that the "new" childhood studies can make to securing that future, particularly with respect to establishing the importance of the agency and social competence (in different arenas of everyday life) of children as political social actors. The combination of these recognitions with the task of conceptualizing childhood politics (as politics with children) and an emancipatory development in the field of children's rights is vital for fuller socio-theoretical and socio-political debates on solutions to the problem of positive human future for all generations. In this paper, we show how the conceptualizations and empirical work from childhood studies enhance the role that children's rights can play in the improvement of democratic processes at a societal level, i.e. real participation. This is something that goes way beyond the tendency to treat children's rights as an individual concern, arguing instead for a consideration of children's rights and agency as a social requirement for democracy.

The often unremarked processes through which gender and generation play out in families with teenage children in, through, and over time, was the topic of a mixed qualitative methods study, drawing on the accounts of multiple family members – 14 and 15 year olds and their resident parent(s). Using this as a case study the paper critically considers a number of methodological, ethical, and political issues faced in undertaking the research, particularly with respect to research with children. These pertain to challenges of a social constructionist approach and to research from multiple perspectives. We argue that there are paradoxes and contradictions that arise between a social constructionist approach and the practicalities of carrying out research into dynamic phenomena, such as "generationing", particularly when trying to understand this from multiple perspectives. But rather than consider these as flaws we show how they are in fact opportunities for insight into the interplay between the structural and the dynamic nature of intergenerational relations.

The often unremarked processes through which gender and generation play out in families with teenage children in, through, and over time, was the topic of a mixed qualitative methods study, drawing on the accounts of multiple family members – 14 and 15 year olds and their resident parent(s). Using this as a case study the paper critically considers a number of methodological, ethical, and political issues faced in undertaking the research, particularly with respect to research with children. These pertain to challenges of a social constructionist approach and to research from multiple perspectives. We argue that there are paradoxes and contradictions that arise between a social constructionist approach and the practicalities of carrying out research into dynamic phenomena, such as "generationing", particularly when trying to understand this from multiple perspectives. But rather than consider these as flaws we show how they are in fact opportunities for insight into the interplay between the structural and the dynamic nature of intergenerational relations.

The often unremarked processes through which gender and generation play out in families with teenage children in, through, and over time, was the topic of a mixed qualitative methods study, drawing on the accounts of multiple family members – 14 and 15 year olds and their resident parent(s). Using this as a case study the paper critically considers a number of methodological, ethical, and political issues faced in undertaking the research, particularly with respect to research with children. These pertain to challenges of a social constructionist approach and to research from multiple perspectives. We argue that there are paradoxes and contradictions that arise between a social constructionist approach and the practicalities of carrying out research into dynamic phenomena, such as "generationing", particularly when trying to understand this from multiple perspectives. But rather than consider these as flaws we show how they are in fact opportunities for insight into the interplay between the structural and the dynamic nature of intergenerational relations.

"Im Unterschied zu diesen Diskussionen, die sich durchweg auf das Kindeswohl als rechtlichen und sozialpädagogischen Leitbegriff beziehen, schlagen die Autoren vor, sich gesellschaftstheoretisch und -politisch auf Kinderrechte zu beziehen. Dies wird bildungstheoretisch fundiert. Die Vorstellung, Kinder als gesellschaftliche Akteure Erwachsenen gleich zu betrachten, setzt die Radikalisierung der strukturellen Bedingungen von Kindheit als Möglichkeit zur Erfahrung von Partizipation als Gesellschaftsprinzip voraus - also die 'bedingungslose Ausweitung des Konzeptes von citizenship'. Im einzelnen wird dieses Konzept von den beiden Autoren detailliert entfaltet, und mit Fragen nach der Verknüpfung der generationalen Ordnung mit Kinderrechten, Partizipation und Kinderpolitik verbunden. Diese Überlegungen schließen an die neue Perspektive der Kindheitssoziologie - Kinder als soziale Akteure mit eigenen Rechten - an, die theoretisch die Fremdbestimmung von Kindheit und Kinderleben zu beenden sucht. Die Autoren setzen sich ab von Expertokratischen und Familialistischen Vorstellungen und beziehen sich auf die UN Konvention (Kinderrechte), in der sie - trotz berechtigter Kritik - die Verbesserung von Lebensbedingungen und deren praktische Erfahrung als Bedingungen für die Verwirklichung von Partizipation sehen. Die Verbindung der drei (englischen) PS - Protektion, Provision, Partizipation - wird auf die Mischungsverhältnis zwischen Ideologie und realen Problemlagen untersucht und auf die Entwicklung eines Kindheitstheoretisch orientierten Schutzkonzept, das Machtungleichheiten angeht. Hervorgehoben wird der Infrastrukturgedanke vor allem hinsichtlich der sozialisationstheoretisch zentralen Phase der frühen Kindheit." (Autorenreferat)

Most research into sleep, even that which includes a sociological dimension, tends to focus on sleep outcomes, in effect following an agenda set by the natural sciences and psychology. The work reported in this paper engages with the material and social dimensions of sleep from within social constructionist and interactionist frameworks, seeking to explore and theorise the meaning and experience of sleep from the perspective of the sleeper. In doing this, we examine how contemporary constructions of sleep and constructions of childhood and adolescence arise and are linked in the UK context. Sleep time tends to be constructed as empty of activity other than sleeping and devoid of the sorts of interactions that characterise wakeful day-time. However, a grounded analysis of qualitative data generated with 9 children and 20 teenagers suggested that the assumption of absence of activity and interaction was misleading: their nights were populated by a range of actors, presences and activities. Placing our focus on these aspects of our participants' accounts of their sleep we found that the temporal, spatial and interactional dimensions of routine sleep served to create a definable arena of action (Hutchby and Moran-Ellis 1998) which was marked out both materially and socially. We conceptually frame this arena of sleep as a night-world (Moran-Ellis, 2006).

Late in 1997 the UK Government launched 'Connecting the Learning Society' (CtLS) as the first concrete step in instituting a 'National Grid for Learning' which will connect schools (and other sites and institutions) to an 'information superhighway'. This paper presents a textual analysis of CtLS which examines the ways in which technology and the child are presented. We find that CtLS relies on conventional constructions of children as learners and future adults and that, in parallel with this, its treatment of technology is schematic and articulated with and in terms of 'the future'. The transformation of society, and the arrival of a new socio?technical future, are taken as certain. We argue, on the one hand, that a vision is propounded in which the Grid is seen as transcendent, in that it will have a major impact regardless of the social relations in the context of use; but on the other, that a careful reading of the text reveals a concern with generating alliances, enrollments and trajectories which act as a kind of infrastructure for this vision. We conclude with some thoughts on the wider set of cultural assumptions that frame the document and which help to buttress its plausibility.