We interview Manfred Liebel and Philip Meade about their book, Adultism: A Critical Introduction to Discrimination Against Children
Our member, Prof. Manfred Liebel (Technical University of Berlin and University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Germany), and his co-author, Philip Meade (University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Germany), talk about their book, Adultism: A Critical Introduction to Discrimination Against Children (Policy Press, 2026).
Q: What is this book about?
Our book is a critical introduction into a social phenomenon called adultism. This can be understood as a form of discrimination and unequal power structure that favours ‘adults’ over ‘children’, manifests itself in many ways and has diverse, mostly negative consequences for those affected. It prevails especially in contemporary Western societies, where the dominant pattern of childhood strictly distinguishes and separates adults from children.
Adultism manifests itself in dominant and pejorative behaviour towards younger people and is justified by the inverse positive bias towards adults. It is entrenched in norms, values, customs, traditions, symbols, language, discourses and inscribed in regulations, laws, policies, design, architecture as well as the economy. It pervades societal institutions and structures in all these areas. The existing power inequality between so-called ‘minors’ and so-called ‘grown-ups’ is exploited either deliberately or unintentionally and is further reinforced by a slow but steady shift of accesses, resources and privileges to the advantage of adults.
After an introduction to terms, concepts and initial explanations (Chapter 1), we point out various adultist practices in past and present and attempt to conceptualise them (Chapter 2). We then put a magnifying glass on adultism, locate it theoretically and explain it in a variety of ways (Chapter 3). After looking at ways in which adults can confront adultism (Chapter 4) and young people already challenge adultism daily (Chapter 5), we conclude by debunking various misconceptions and posing suggestions for thinking further towards an adultism-free society (Chapter 6).
Q: What made you write this book?
We wanted to draw attention to a social phenomenon that is so commonplace that it is hardly noticed. Even in childhood studies, it has remained a marginal topic to this day. In our political and professional practice, we have repeatedly learned that it is important to have a term for everyday discrimination and violence experienced on the basis of age and to provide a theoretical foundation for it.
Our contemplations are based on a review of the available literature in English, German, Spanish, Italian and French. Our own research on the topic has mostly been conducted in the context of our political, academic and educational practice with young people in Germany, England and Latin America. We follow a dialogue-based and participatory research approach and attempt to fulfil the requirement of ethical symmetry. Only this kind of research allows the perspectives and subjectivity of young people to emerge.
We present an interdisciplinary foundation about adultism from a critical, scientific-activist perspective, aiming to increase the visibility of this form of discrimination. This book therefore primarily appeals to professionals, activists, parents and hopefully also to youths. Even though we try to avoid technical jargon, the book is not written in simple or easy language. We therefore published an illustrated version in simple language online under CC licence and translated it into several languages. We are happy that youth groups and organisations are also writing about their experiences with adultism on blogs and social media or in zines and other publications!
An excerpt from the book:
The way adults speak to or about young people often embodies direct adultism. Language maps the society from which it emerges, is a powerful tool for understanding, accessing and forming social realities and it shapes perceptions of ourselves and other people. Speech is moulded by the beliefs behind it and, as psychologist Lev Vygotsky ([1934]1986) discovered, spoken words retroactively influence thinking. This makes a conscious use of language even more important. Therefore, it is not a trivial matter when young people repeatedly hear sentences like the following.
Children are given orders (without explanation or discussion):
- ‘Elbows off the table!’
- ‘You’re not wearing that!’
- ‘Now say you’re sorry!’
Children’s feelings are devaluated:
- ‘It can’t hurt that much!’
- ‘Stop being such a misery!’
- ‘Wipe that grin off your face!’
Children’s ideas and competences are not taken seriously:
- ‘Don’t talk nonsense!’
- ‘Be reasonable!’
- ‘It’s just a phase – you’ll grow out of it!’
Children are constantly curtailed:
- ‘Be careful with that!’
- ‘Don’t go there!’
- ‘Get your hands off!’
Children are bribed:
- ‘If you don’t clean up, you can’t watch TV!’
- ‘Whoever gets dressed quickest, goes first!’
- ‘You’ll make me sad if you don’t help me!’
Children are stigmatised:
- ‘You’re such a diva!’
- ‘You’re always fidgeting!’
- ‘You’ll never learn!’
Children are imputed:
- ‘You’ll only break it!’
- ‘Are you sure you don’t have to go to the toilet?’
- ‘You must be tired!’
Children are infantilised:
- ‘Don’t be such a cry-baby!’
- ‘Stop being so childish!’
- ‘Will you ever grow up?’
Children are restrained from participation in decision-making:
- ‘As long as you live under my roof, you do what I say!’
- ‘You can make decisions for yourself when you’re an adult!’
- ‘Speak only when you’re spoken to!’
Children are put in competition with each other:
- ‘Your sister has such beautiful table manners!’
- ‘Look at all the other children!’
- ‘You’re so smart for your age!’
Children are embarrassed or humiliated:
- ‘I will have to tell your parents!’
- ‘You’ll never get any friends like that!’
- ‘You should be ashamed of yourself!’
Children are threatened:
- ‘Don’t you dare talk to me like that again!’
- ‘I will count to three!’
- ‘Do you need some smacking?’
Additionally, adults often talk about children in their presence, sometimes exposing them as if they weren’t there (‘Max wet the bed again last night’). Adults answer questions originally posed to children (‘She’ll have the salami pizza’). Or they put children under pressure in front of other adults (‘Smile into grandma’s camera!’). Adults belittle and pamper children in front of others (‘Doesn't Scarlett look cute in that dress?’). The diminutive form is particularly popular for young children (‘Betty’ for ‘Elizabeth’). Adults frequently ask children questions without genuine interest in an honest answer: instrumental questions, boomerang questions, suggestive questions or questions with prefixed answers (‘Don’t you want us to be home soon?’). They pressure children to make obligatory apologies without considering their perspective (‘Go say sorry now!’). Conversely, adults decide when a conflict is settled, urge children to accept apologies and suppress the distress they have experienced. Adults seldom apologise to children.
The mimicry, gestures and body language that adults use, for example when they bend over a child or hold their arm, can reinforce the verbal statements. Children are often patted on the head, and especially Children of Colour are groped in their hair. Children are often overlooked or ignored. If a child wants to join in the conversation of adults, they continue talking as if the child had not said anything. If children speak up to draw attention to themselves, they are reprimanded for being ‘cheeky’. Adults quickly change topics brought up by children to avoid a deeper conversation (‘Let’s not talk about that now’). There is something of an unspoken pact among adults not to criticise each other’s parenting in front of a child.
While adults address children by their forename, adults (especially at school) insist on being addressed by their surname or their title thus emphasising their hierarchical position. The common use of possessive pronouns in ‘my daughter’, ‘your son’ or ‘our child’ suggests an ongoing relationship of ownership. Children are disparagingly referred to as ‘shorty’, ‘half-pint’ or ‘ankle-biter’. In non-Anglophone societies, further negative connotations associated with children are common; in Spanish, for example, ‘malcriados’, which literally means badly behaved or ‘spoilt’. In many languages, supposedly inappropriate adult behaviour is pejoratively referred to as ‘childish’, and young people’s ideas of are often dismissed as ‘naïve’. Conversely, youth language (‘bruh’) is often muted and sometimes punished, stifling self-expression. The list could be continued.
All this might sound familiar to the reader, either through experiences as a child or their own actions as an adult. Our examples may sound harmless at first, but in most contexts, they are an expression of subtle violence that manifests itself in (ritualised) communication and is often overheard, overseen or trivialised by adults. Even though many countries have in recent decades implemented a child’s right to non-violent upbringing and physical punishments have become rarer, it is still common to put young people under house arrest as punishment, to take away their toys or to police their eating habits. In this way, language paves the way for further transgressive or assaultive acts that children experience every day in relation to adults. […]
Since this relationship between age groups permeates daily life and is therefore more difficult to recognise, it is also referred to as everyday adultism. ‘It is difficult to identify, challenge and eliminate [adultism] precisely because everyone has experienced it to some degree and because much adultist behaviour is considered natural and normal by most people’ (Bell, 2018, p 54). For instance, it’s commonplace that the interests of infants when changing diapers, swaddling or feeding are placed behind those of parents or educators because routines and schedules, whether in family life or in educational institutions, are largely determined by adults.