'Learning Bodies’ addresses the lack of attention paid to the body in youth and childhood studies.  Whilst a significant range of work on this area has explored gender, class, race and ethnicity, and sexualities – all of which have bodily dimensions – the body is generally studied indirectly, rather than being the central focus. This collection of papers brings together a scholarly range of international, interdisciplinary work on youth, with a specific focus on the body. The authors engage with conceptual, empirical and pedagogical approaches which counteract perspectives that view young people’s bodies primarily as ‘problems’ to be managed, or as sites of risk or deviance. The authors demonstrate that a focus on the body allows us to explore a range of additional dimensions in seeking to understand the experiences of young people. The research is situated across a range of sites in Australia, North America, Britain, Canada, Asia and Africa, drawing on a range of disciplines including sociology, education and cultural studies in the process. This collection aims to demonstrate – theoretically, empirically and pedagogically – the implications that emerge from a reframed approach to understanding children and youth by focusing on the body and embodiment.

Presents cutting-edge scholarship based on the exploration of new methodological approaches to studying the lives of children and young people Makes a significant contribution to the development of innovative theoretical and pedagogical frameworks to enable the study of the body and embodiment Applies conceptual advancements to empirical analyses of key areas of youth studies, lending a series of insights into a wide range of contemporary practices such as ‘sexting’; media consumption; sport and exercise; and participation in dance and theatre performance Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras