This book reveals how complex interpersonal and structural relations - age, class, gender, sexuality, culture, religion, abilities and geographical location - shape the lives, identities, opportunities and regulation of children and young people.

While marginalisation occurs throughout advanced capitalist democracies, Northern Ireland presents a unique context. Decades-long conflict involving state and non-state armed groups ended in 1998, yet it remains a divided society where sectarian violence extends to racist attacks on 'incomers' and transgenerational trauma persists.

Exploring the experiences of children, young people and their advocates within the context of political, economic and socio-cultural conditions affecting the changing dynamics of everyday life, it analyses the significance of children's rights. Chapters focus on adult responses and media representation, participation in decision-making, civic engagement, inclusion in education, access to space and place, regulation and policing, the legacy of the Conflict, and the deficit in children's rights. Reflecting children's and young people's priorities, it identifies reforms necessary to achieve social justice and implement a positive rights agenda.

Relevant to practitioners, policymakers and politicians, the book has universal significance for democratic states, particularly those transitioning from armed conflict. Essential reading within social sciences, criminology, law, childhood and youth studies, and education.

Deena Haydon is an independent research and policy consultant on childhood and children's rights.

Phil Scraton is Professor Emeritus, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland.