Early childhood professionals are often required to work with children and families from a range of diverse backgrounds. This book goes beyond simplistic definitions of diversity, encouraging a much broader understanding and helping early childhood educators develop a critical disposition towards assumptions about children and childhood in relation to diversity, difference and social justice. As well as drawing on research, the book gives an overview of relevant contemporary social theories, including poststructuralism, cultural studies, postcolonialism, feminist perspectives and queer theory. Each chapter interrogates practice and explores opportunities and strategies for creating a more equitable environment. The book covers a number of issues impacting on children's lives, including globalization, new racisms, immigration, refugees, homophobia, heterosexism and constructions of childhood. Each chapter provides an overview of the area of discussion, a focus on the implications for practice, and recommended readings. Providing insight into how social justice practices in early childhood can make a real difference in the lives of children and their families, this is key reading for early childhood professionals, students and researchers. Following a foreword, this book is divided into nine chapters: (1) Changing Paradigms in Early Childhood Education: Critical Perspectives on Diversity and Difference in Doing Social Justice in Early Childhood Education; (2) Doing Feminist Poststructuralist Theory with Early Childhood Educators; (3) Local and Global Social Relations: Critical Perspectives on Class and Inequality; (4) "It's More Than Black Dolls and Brown Paint": Critical Multiculturalism Whiteness and Early Childhood Education; (5) Families as Performative Social Spaces. Reconceptualizing the Family for Social Justice; (6) Bilingualism, Identity and English as a Globalized Language; (7) Gender Performativity in Early Childhood Education; (8) The Lion, The Witch and the "Closet": Dealing with Sexual Identity Issues in Early Childhood Education; and (9) The Challenge of Diversity and Difference to Early Childhood Education. A glossary and list of references conclude the book.