Time, Space and Place

This introductory chapter explores space, place, and time as dimensions of childhood and youth. Exploring space and time is a way of moving beyond universal and homogeneous understandings of childhood and youth that are drawn from the metropolitan centers of the global north. It is a way of developing new perspectives on the biographies, identities, and social inequalities that shape young lives across the globe. The chapter covers the theoretical meaning of concepts such as space, place, and scale and draws on these concepts in order to capture the local, national, and global diversity of contemporary childhood and youth. The chapter also critically interrogates the notions of time that are brought to bear on childhood and youth, including the contradictory temporalities of contemporary young lives, and the way that concepts of space and time interact in different concepts of childhood and youth such as in concepts of development or “transition.” Finally, the concept of place draws attention to the way that history and materiality come together to shape the everyday lifeworlds of youth, as well as the social divisions that structure different youth identities and biographical experiences.