ABSTRACT
In this chapter I introduce the children interviewed in the course of this study, to set the scene for a wider discussion of the prospects for nurturing ecological citizenship in neoliberal democracies.1 As discussed in the introduction, the experience of New Zealand children presents a stark challenge for those concerned with youth citizenship and environmental education. In a small democracy which prides itself on its positive environmental image, New Zealand’s youngest citizens face an uncertain future. While New Zealanders report comparatively high life satisfaction, despite low net incomes, young New Zealanders also report some of the highest rates of youth suicide and youth unemployment in the OECD, and high rates of accidents, child abuse, ill health and poverty.2 This chapter reviews the impacts of neoliberal reform on a New Zealand childhood, and reports on the varied ways children interviewed in this study describe their citizenship. I consider the way growing up in situations of increasing income inequality and declining social support has wide-ranging implications for children’s experience of their citizenship and their environment.
