Abstract
In 1965 a group of children living in north London discovered that an area of abandoned industrial land, which they had appropriated as their playground for over a decade, was earmarked for development for much needed social housing. The children decided to campaign against the development and contacted a local environmentally concerned artist to assist them in their campaign. Notwithstanding the children’s decision to seek adult support, they forged a child-led campaign that drew on the good offices of sympathetic adults, but never relinquished their control. The campaign was well-run and attracted both local support and national media attention, becoming something of a cause célèbre. The campaign, now all but forgotten, was to continue for three years and whilst its aim of saving the playground ultimately failed it has left a positive legacy of active social engagement for many of the children who took part.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 215-231 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | International Journal of Play |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 17 Jul 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 17 Jul 2017 |
Keywords
- Protest
- Play
- empowerment
- activecitizenship
- political socialization
- urbanwildscape
- play
- political socialisation
- urban wildscape
- active citizenship