Being "On the Margins"

This book is a collection of the proceedings from the Symposium of the Street, a one-day conference convened at the University of Manchester in June 2014 and funded by the North West Doctoral Training Centre. The event brought together civil society organisations and academics to share experiences of working and facilitating research with street-connected children and youth, and other young people in vulnerable situations. The chapters in this book represent a number of different organisations and researchers working in countries across Europe, Africa and Asia. All explore the realities of people who live on the margins, positioned as out-of-place and unable to access aspects of mainstream society, be they education and schooling, welfare or care services.

The authors discuss their work and research with children, youth and people who are street-connected or rough sleeping, refugees, asylum seekers or migrant populations; live in slum areas; are learners of English as an additional language; or have disabilities. The chapters present the day-to-day issues practitioners and organisations face when delivering interventions, advocating for effective social policy, litigating for inclusion, or monitoring and evaluating the progress made. Together, the chapters offer a multidimensional approach to being on the margins of society, or working with excluded communities, and encourages a cross-sectoral approach to inclusion in its many forms.