Children'S Citizenship:An Emergent Discourse On The Rights 0F The Child?


Book Description

In 1989 the UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Soon most nations had signed and ratified, making it the most successful human rights instrument ever. Since parts of that convention appear to bestow new rights of participation in civil society on children it was assumed that it also opened the door to children s citizenship. This remains to be seen. Some questions arising are examined here: one might, for instance, ask when does a child become a citizen? One essay thus looks at premature babies rights. Other contributors examine policy, practice and theory in other domains and through the entire age range from birth to 18 years in order to shed light on what is at present becoming a cutting edge issue for social scientists examining the situation of children and their own active role in shaping and changing contemporary society.




Children and Citizenship


Book Description

`This collection...is outstanding. It has an excellent grasp of the field and students in fields of both social studies of childhood and children′s rights and citizenship will gain a lot from reading and studying the book′ - Jens Qvortrup, Professor of Sociology, University of Trondheim `Anyone who is concerned with citizenship should grapple with the thesis in this collection. This stimulating book will provoke discussion of what is involved in recognising that children are as much part of our society as adults′ - Professor Michael Freeman, Editor of International Journal of Children′s Rights Children and Citizenship offers a contemporary and critical approach to notions of children′s citizenship. Drawing on different disciplinary perspectives and including contributions by leading scholars in the field, this book makes explicit connections between theoretical approaches, representations of childhood, the experiences of children themselves, legal instruments, policies and their implementation. Each chapter presents complex issues in an accessible way, helping readers to understand notions of children′s citizenship that are embedded in contemporary debates. Children and Citizenship is an important and timely book and will be invaluable for undergraduate and postgraduate students across a wide number of disciplines, including health, social work, childhood studies, youth studies, education, law and social policy, together with policy-makers and practitioners in allied areas. Antonella Invernizzi is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Applied Social Sciences, Swansea University. Jane Williams is a former UK and Welsh Assembly government lawyer now based in the School of Law, Swansea University where she teaches Public Law, aspects of child law and children′s rights




The History and Theory of Children’s Citizenship in Contemporary Societies


Book Description

This book examines the notion of children having full citizenship. It does so historically, through intellectual discourse, beliefs, and moral and ideological positions on children. It looks at the status and extent of knowledge of the position of children covering about 2500 years. The book takes European and other cultures, traditions and beliefs into consideration. It reflects on the topic from a variety of disciplines, including social sciences, theology and philosophy. The book places children’s citizenship in the centre of children’s rights discourse. Part of the work is a critical appraisal of ‘children’s participation’ because it diverts attention away from children as members of society toward being a separable group. The book moves on from child participation using a children’s rights based argument toward examination of the relationship of the child with the state, i.e. as potentially full member citizens. ​




Rethinking Children's Citizenship


Book Description

This book explores the relationship between children and citizenship, analyzing international perspectives on citizenship and human rights and developing new methods for facilitating the recognition of children as participating agents within society.




Rights and Wrongs of Children's Work


Book Description

Explores the place of labor in children's lives and child development. By incorporating recent theoretical advances in childhood studies and in child development, the authors argue for the need to re-think assumptions that underlie current policies on child labor. Proposes a new approach to promote the well-being, development, and human rights of working children. From publisher description.




Decolonizing Childhoods


Book Description

European colonization of other continents has had far-reaching and lasting consequences for the construction of childhoods and children’s lives throughout the world. Liebel presents critical postcolonial and decolonial thought currents along with international case studies from countries in Africa, Latin America, and former British settler colonies to examine the complex and multiple ways that children throughout the Global South continue to live with the legacy of colonialism. Building on the work of Cannella and Viruru, he explores how these children are affected by unequal power relations, paternalistic policies and violence by state and non-state actors, before showing how we can work to ensure that children’s rights are better promoted and protected, globally.




A Handbook of Children and Young People's Participation


Book Description

A Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation brings together key thinkers and practitioners from diverse contexts across the globe to provide an authoritative overview of contemporary theory and practice around children’s participation. Promoting the participation of children and young people - in decision-making and policy development, and as active contributors to everyday family and community life - has become a central part of policy and programme initiatives in both majority and minority worlds. This book presents the most useful recent work in children’s participation as a resource for academics, students and practitioners in childhood studies, children’s rights and welfare, child and family social work, youth and community work, governance, aid and development programmes. The book introduces key concepts and debates, and presents a rich collection of accounts of the diverse ways in which children’s participation is understood and enacted around the world, interspersed with reflective commentaries from adults and young people. It concludes with a number of substantial theoretical contributions that aim to take forward our understanding of children’s participation. The emphasis throughout the text is on learning from the complexity of children’s participation in practice to improve our theoretical understanding, and on using those theoretical insights to challenge practice, with the aim of realising children’s rights and citizenship more fully.




Childhood Citizenship, Governance and Policy


Book Description

Debates about children’s rights not only concern those things that children have a right to have and to do but also our broader social and political community, and the moral and political status of the child within it. This book examines children’s rights and citizenship in the USA, UK and Australia and analyses the policy, law and sociology that govern the transition from childhood to adulthood. By examining existing debates on childhood citizenship, the author pursues the claim that childhood is the most heavily governed period of a liberal individual’s life, and argues that childhood is an intensely monitored period that involves a ‘politics of becoming adult’. Drawing upon case studies from the USA, the UK and Australia, this concept is used to critically analyse debates and policy concerning children’s citizenship, criminality, and sexuality. In doing so, the book seeks to uncover what informs and limits how we think about, talk about, and govern children’s rights in liberal societies. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, governance, social policy, ethics, politics of childhood and public policy.




Children's Rights from Below


Book Description

This book presents an integral, cross-cultural reflection on the social reality of children's rights and citizenship, giving an insight into new perspectives on the history and different concepts of children's rights in a contextualized and localized manner.




Decisional Privacy and the Rights of the Child


Book Description

Decisional privacy gives individuals the freedom to act and make decisions about how they live their lives, without unjustifiable interference from other individuals or the state. This book advances a theory of a child’s right to decisional privacy. It draws on the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and extends the work of respected children’s rights scholars to address a significant gap in understanding the interconnections between privacy, family law and children’s rights. It contextualises the theory through a case study: judicial proceedings concerning medical treatment for children experiencing gender dysphoria. This work argues that recognising a substantive right to decisional privacy for children requires procedural rights that facilitate children’s meaningful participation in decision-making about their best interests. It also argues that, as courts have increasingly encroached upon decision-making regarding children’s medical treatment, they have denied the decisional privacy rights of transgender and gender diverse children. This book will benefit researchers, students, judicial officers and practitioners in various jurisdictions worldwide grappling with the tensions between children’s rights, parental responsibilities and state duties in relation to children’s best interests, and with the challenge of better enabling and listening to children’s voices in decision-making processes.