Karen M. Smith is a Lecturer at Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland and at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her research and teaching interests lie in the area of children and social policy.

Introduction: Childhood, Discourse and Power 1. Conceptualising Governmentality 2. Subjects of Freedom 3. Disciplining Childhood 4. The Gentle Way in Child Government 5. Governing the Responsible Child Conclusion

Grounded in the Foucauldian literature on governmentality and drawing on a broad range of disciplines, this book examines the government of childhood in the West from the early modern period to the present. The book deals with three key time-periods and examines shifts in the conceptualization and regulation of childhood and child-rearing.