JENS QVORTRUP is Professor of Sociology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and former Director of the Norwegian Centre for Child Research, Trondheim, Norway. A founding father of childhood studies, he was the Founding President of the International Sociological Association's section on sociology of childhood (1988-1998), Director of the pioneering study 'Childhood as a Social Phenomenon' (1987-1992) and co-editor of the journal Childhood (1999-2008). He has written extensively on childhood and his publications include Childhood Matters, Childhood and Children's Culture, Studies in Modern Childhood and The Modern Child and the Flexible Labour Market.
 
WILLIAM A. CORSARO is the Robert H. Shaffer Endowed Chair in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University, USA. He has held Visiting Fellowships in Italy and Norway. He has written widely on childhood and early education and his publications include Friendship and Peer Culture in the Early Years, We’re Friends, Right?: Inside Kids’ Culture, I Compagni: Understanding Children’s Transition from Preschool to Elementary School (with Luisa Molinari). His book The Sociology of Childhood is now in its second edition and has been translated into Danish and Italian.
 
MICHAEL-SEBASTIAN HONIG is Professor of Social Work at the University of Luxembourg. Previously he held posts as Head of the Department of Children and Child Care at the German Youth Institute, Munich, and Professor of Pedagogy at the University of Trier, Germany. His many publications include Entwurf einer Theorie der Kindheit (Towards a Theory of Childhood). He is co-editor of the German Journal of the Sociology of Education and Socialization and an editorial board member for Childhood. He edits the German book series Childhoods: New Directions published by Juventa Publishing.