This work examines how children's bodies are constructed in schools, families, courts, hospitals and in film. Recognizing that children's bodies are a target for adult practices of social regulation, the contributors show that children are also active in their construction, employ them in resistance and social action, and generate their own meanings about them. The editor, a sociologist of childhood, draws out the theoretical implications of this work, indicates the limits of social constructionism, and suggests new ways of thinking about the hybrid of material, discursive and collective processes involved.

This work examines how children's bodies are constructed in schools, families, courts, hospitals and in film. Recognizing that children's bodies are a target for adult practices of social regulation, the contributors show that children are also active in their construction, employ them in resistance and social action, and generate their own meanings about them. The editor, a sociologist of childhood, draws out the theoretical implications of this work, indicates the limits of social constructionism, and suggests new ways of thinking about the hybrid of material, discursive and collective processes involved.