Children's lives : taking account of the social

This special issue of Children and Society originated in a symposium in which the two guest editors presented findings from a qualitative research project on 'Children, Communities and Social Capital'. The symposium brought together, as does this special issue, research papers on children's perspectives on communities, well-being, poverty and safety and considered the implications of what children are saying on these issues for policy. Highlighted by the presentations and by the articles which comprise this special issue, is the significance of the social when children are acknowledged as agentic beings and their perspectives sought.