The Childrens Rights Movement: continuity or discontinuity

1

• The Childrens Rights Movement continuity or
  discontinuity?
• The meaning of civil society organizations in the
  field of childrens rights and the welfare of
  children
• Paper presented at the 33rd global conference of
  ICSW.
• The dynamics of social welfare in globalization
  Lessons from the past, challenges for today and
  tomorrow
• Didier Reynaert, University College Ghent Ghent
  University
• Maria Bouverne-De Bie, Ghent University
• Stijn Vandevelde, University College Ghent
  Ghent University

2
Overview

• Rationale
• The Child Saving Movement
• The Childrens Rights Movement
• Merits of the Children's Rights Movement
• Questioning the Childrens Rights Movement
• The Childrens Rights Movement continuity or
  discontinuity?
• The role of civil society organizations in the
  field of childrens rights contemporary research
  agenda

3
Rationale

• 1948 Adoption of the Universal Declaration on
  Human Rights
• 1989 Adoption of the U.N. Convention on the
  Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• Fifty years of human rights for children
• What is the meaning of the children's rights
  movement in seeking to enhance the welfare of
  children?

4
The Child Saving Movement (1)

• Child Saving Movement (beginning 20th century)
• Precursors of the contemporary childrens rights
  movement
• Welfare perspective on childhood
• Children are objects in need of protection
  because of their vulnerability
• Childhood image of the incompetent child
• Children as not-yet-beings, adults in waiting
• Focus on protection rights of children
• Creation of a youth land or moratorium
  towards adulthood

5
The Child Saving Movement (2)

• Institutionalized in Western Europe through first
  childrens laws. In Belgium
• Youth Protection Act (1912)
• Act on compulsory education (1914)
• Act on the prohibition of child labour (1889)
• Development of social work in the modern
  industrial society

6
The Childrens Rights Movement

• Childrens Rights Movement (sixties and
  seventies)
• In the slipstream of the child liberationist
  movement
• Alternative pedagogical model for dealing with
  children, representing rights perspective on
  childhood
• Children are social actors
• Children are autonomous and competent human
  beings
• Rejecting the moratorium-idea youthland social
  problem (Bring children back in society)
• Adoption of the UNCRC in 1989 rights as an
  instrument for social change

7
Merits of the Children's Rights Movement

• Children become visible and interests are taken
  into account
• Enforceability of children's rights (hard law)
• Consequences for practice and policy-making
  emerge of new practices
• Participation practices (in welfare
  organizations, at school and in the family) and
  advocacy practices
• Child rights policy
• Children's rights movement opened the discussion
  on the position of children in society the
  pursuit for a larger respect of the human dignity
  for children

8
Questioning the Children's Rights Movement (1)

• Emphasizing autonomy and participation rights as
  the individual responsibility of children
• Dichotomizing relationships between children and
  educators, in particular their parents
• Shift from childrens rights to duties of
  children, e.g.
• Youth offending (discourse of responsibilisation)
  
• Negotiating in families
• Shift from responsibility of state to
  responsibility of children and parents
• Shift from social problem to individual problem
• Paradox outcome further marginalization of
  children?
• Children as entrepreneurial selves

9
Questioning the Children's Rights Movement (2)

• The UNCRC as the benchmark of the childrens
  rights discourse
• Euphoric belief in positive consequences of
  childrens rights
• Consensus thinking on childrens rights (pensée
  unique)
• Discussion on the meaning of childrens right
  disappears
• technicallization of childrens rights
  Implementing the UNCRC gap-problem
• decontextualization of childrens rights
• Ignoring the social-historical context
• Ignoring the diversity under children
• the global childrens rights industry

10
The Childrens Rights Movement continuity or
discontinuity? (1)

• Educationalisation (Pädagogisierung)

1. Children as entrepreneurial selves
2. The global childrens rights industry
Individualization
Professionalization
11
The Childrens Rights Movement continuity or
discontinuity? (2)

• The Childrens Rights Movement as an alternative
  way of dealing with children a counter movement
  towards the process of educationalization
• Vs.
• The Childrens Rights Movement as the
  continuation or even radicalisation of the old
  paradigm

12
The role of civil society organizations in the
field of childrens rights contemporary research
agenda

• Research along the lines of educationalization
  offers contemporary research agenda for the
  childrens rights movement
• On what grounds interventions by civil society
  organizations on childrens rights are
  legitimized?
• By whom?
• Regarding who?
• With what effects these interventions are
  attendant?
• Shifting from a competence debate to a social
  political debate on childrens rights focus on
  what childrens rights organisations do

13
Question time?

• Contact details
• Didier Reynaert
• Research assistant
• University College Ghent
• Faculty of Social Work and Welfare Studies
• Voskenslaan 362
• 9000 Ghent
• Belgium
• Tel. [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• E-mail didier.reynaert_at_hogent.be