This book traces some of the changing scientific and societal notions of what it is to be a young person, and argues that there is a need to rethink how we view childhood spaces, child development and the politics of growing up. The book challenges popular myths that evoke general notions of childhood as a natural stage in the development towards adulthood. In addition, the book argues that new theories need to articulate the interdependent relations between material societal transformations and the social constructions of childhood.