Abstract

This article develops theoretical understanding of children’s participation in national-level public decision-making, strengthening insight into how to pursue influence. Using aspects of the work of Bourdieu, Marxist theories and Escobar’s writing on Epistemologies of the South, we analyse examples of participatory processes in four European countries, developed from interviews with young people and adults. Bourdieu focuses attention on the power to mobilise knowledge and the constraining role of doxa. Marxist collective action theories highlight learning through struggle, collective action, and social movements from above. Escobar reveals the power of sentirpensar-feelingthinking, localised autonomy and meshworks, to enact change in the now.