Dimensions of marginalisation and agency: Exploring the diminishment and enrichment of young people’s wellbeing in contemporary Britain

This covering paper accompanies the portfolio of publications submitted for my PhD by published works. Its focuses and content are summarised below. All of my work, both within academia and in practice as a youth worker, has been concerned with the position of young people in British society, and particularly those who experience structural marginalisation. For too many young people, Britain is a harmful society in which to grow up. Class, gender and racialisation affects the extent to which and ways in which young people are affected by different structural harms, such as poverty, educational exclusion, and housing inadequacy (Billingham Cannings & Tombs 2021). In our vastly unequal society, young people in different communities have hugely divergent access to power, prestige and prosperity. Whilst British young people as a generational group may all be at risk of ‘ephebiphobia’ – the generalised fear of young people (Kinsey 2019: 2) – it is clear that young people from different backgrounds are subject to profoundly different levels of suspicion, mistrust and stigma, with significant consequences for their wellbeing. In my capacity as a youth worker, I seek to both ameliorate the effects of these inequalities on individual young people, and to pursue the kinds of systemic and structural change which could contribute to a more equal and just society. In my academic work, I’ve sought to understand the historical entrenchment, causes and consequences of these inequities. The articles and chapters included in my portfolio address these issues from different angles. This covering paper contains the following: 1. A section outlining the approach that I have taken to my research, including positionality, axiology, co-authorship, epistemology, methodology and ethics. 2. A summary of each publication, including its context and purpose, co-authorship (where relevant), and central argument. 3. A section describing the empirical contribution that the publications have made 4. A discussion of the publications’ interconnections and their contribution to theoretical and policy debates within academic literature 5. An exploration of the strengths and limitations of the publications as a body of work 6. An overview of the reception that the publications have received 7. A brief summary of the policy and practice impact that the publications have had