Adultism: A Critical Introduction to Discrimination Against Children

By Manfred Liebel and Philip Meade

Despite global advances in children's rights, young people are routinely disregarded, overpowered and excluded. This persistent discrimination - known as adultism - permeates family life, education, urban design, legal systems and political discourse.

In this groundbreaking book, the authors provide a comprehensive introduction to adultism from an academic perspective while also emphasising its practical implications. Drawing on rich, real-world examples and research, they analyse it as a systemic form of discrimination, exploring how it evolved and is reproduced through language, institutions and everyday practices.

Timely, accessible and urgent, this book offers a vision for resistance and transformation, outlining how adultism can be challenged - by both adults and young people - to co-create a more equitable future.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1447378121
• ISBN13: 9781447378129
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Policy Press
• Length: 352 Pages