ABSTRACT
Geographers have recently called for a greater engagement with inequalities through less hierarchical practice in social geography (Kitchin and Hubbard 1999, Cloke 2002, Pain 2003, 2004). Matthews et al. (1999) have emphasised that there should not be a separation between academic work challenging the marginalisation of those who are facing exclusion (Mattingly and Falconer-Al-Hindi 1995, Kesby 2000). Researchers examining young people should therefore take responsibility for addressing the politics of childhood (Valentine 1996). There is a need to listen to original young voices rather than relying on adult interpretations of their lives (Philo 1992, Morrow and Richards 1996, James and Prout 1997, Matthews et al. 1998b, Matthews and Limb 1999, Aitken 2001, Matthews 2001a, Haudrup Christensen 2004). In this context, participatory research is seen as one way to foreground the perspectives of young people and to identify, and challenge, forms of social exclusion they face (Alderson 2000, Cahill 2004, Pain 2004). In this paper we will focus on one specific form of young people’s participation in the research process: their involvement as interviewers.
