Transnational treaties on children’s rights: Norm building and circulation in the twentieth century

Child rights governance: An introduction

“…NGOs and ‘child experts’ were indeed involved in shaping child rights agendas in both contestation of, and in cooperation with, governments. Non-state actors were also vital in the developing of child rights norms, institutions and mechanism at a domestic and international level (Holzscheiter, 2010; Lindenmeyer, 1997; Lindkvist, 2018; Marshall, 2012; Moody, 2017; Nehlin, 2009; Nieuwenhuys, 2001; Sandin, 2012). As this special issue demonstrates, the dispersion of authority and power in child rights governance between governmental and non-governmental actors is hardly static.…”

Studying childhood, children, and their rights: The challenge of interdisciplinarity

“…(p. 5) This historical convergence between the activities conducted in the field of CS and those carried out by the children's rights movement is regularly underlined, as in the introduction of The Routledge International Handbook of Children's Rights Studies (Reynaert et al, 2015; see also Alanen, 2010;Freeman, 1998Freeman, , 2012. Although the historical developments of children's rights and CRS cannot be summed up to a movement implementing in practice and policy ideas developed on an academic level (see notably Dekker, 2009;Hofstetter, 2012;Moody, 2014Moody, , 2016, it does seem that the new child image or new childhood paradigm, as referred to in the literature, is a point of encounter between CS and CRS. Qvortrup et al (2009b: 4-6) discern five characteristics of this new childhood paradigm, which could theoretically apply to both fields: (1) The study of "normal" childhood, in opposition to previous trends focusing mainly on children deviating from what was seen as desirable conditions or on children encountering problems; (2) A critique of the conventional socialization perspective, "to enhance the visibility of children here and now, […] and to understand, […] children and their life worlds in their own right" (Qvortrup et al, 2009b: 5); (3) Agency and voice for children, CS scholars aim to look into the prejudices children face being "reduced to vulnerable people to be protected" and therefore never considered as "participants in the larger social fabric" (Qvortrup et al, 2009b: 5); ( 4) Structural constraints on childhood, taking into account parameters such as economics, technology, urbanization, and so on to study childhood and also to compare how various contexts impact childhood; and (5) The use of ordinary social scientific methods to study children and childhood, rejecting the idea that studying children necessarily requires specific methods, allowing to overcome their "[conceptual incarceration] in a microworld […] of particularism" (Qvortrup et al, 2009b: 6).…”

“…This historical convergence between the activities conducted in the field of CS and those carried out by the children’s rights movement is regularly underlined, as in the introduction of The Routledge International Handbook of Children’s Rights Studies (Reynaert et al, 2015; see also Alanen, 2010; Freeman, 1998, 2012). Although the historical developments of children’s rights and CRS cannot be summed up to a movement implementing in practice and policy ideas developed on an academic level (see notably Dekker, 2009; Hofstetter, 2012; Moody, 2014, 2016), it does seem that the new child image or new childhood paradigm , as referred to in the literature, is a point of encounter between CS and CRS.…”

Les droits de l’enfant. Genèse, institutionnalisation et diffusion (1924-1989)

“…Seules les résolutions de l'Assemblée générale lui permettent de refaire surface ponctuellement, au milieu de l'arsenal d'instruments de droit international grandissant. (Moody, 2014). La reconnaissance des droits constitutionnels de jeunes Américains par la Cour suprême des États-Unis, l'interdiction de châtiments corporels en Suède, les recherches menées par des agences spécialisées de l'ONU sur les droits et responsabilités des jeunes ainsi que l'adoption de Chartes sur les responsabilités des enfants sont des indicateurs de la perte progressive de la cohérence de la Déclaration des droits de l'enfant.…”