Critical Children’s Rights Studies
A Research Companion
Wouter Vandenhole editor Afua Twum-Danso Imoh editor Valeria Llobet editor Didier Reynaert editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:13th Jun '25
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The field of children’s rights studies is well established and largely dominated by a top-down approach that considers these rights as objective standards requiring implementation in practice or policy. This book argues for a critical perspective which views the area as contested terrain with conflicting normative foundations and traditions. The collection brings together established and rising scholars whose work has been central to not only challenging mainstream children’s rights discourses but also provides alternative pathways to conceptualizing children’s rights. It moves beyond critiques of these dominant discourses and sets out the emerging paradigm of Critical Children’s Rights Studies drawing on contexts in both the Global North and Global South. It proposes new pathways and subjects these to scrutiny, illuminating the importance of contextual situatedness and acknowledging the need to consider researchers’ own positionality when outlining their stance on children’s rights.
Containing both empirical and theoretical scholarship, the book will be an essential resource for students, academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the multidisciplinary areas of childhood studies, children’s rights studies and international human rights.
The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
The book, Critical Children’s Rights Studies: A Research Companion, thoughtfully brings together contemporary debates on critical approaches to children’s rights, with the goal of deconstructing dominant discourses and offering alternative rights narratives. Whilst questioning binary approaches and discussing scholars’ own positionality around the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this timely volume highlights the need to combine the theoretical focus of critical children’s rights studies with substantial, practical contributions to children's lives.
Dr Patricio Cuevas-Parra, University of Edinburgh, UK
Critical Children’s Rights Studies: A Research Companion is an essential work that challenges dominant discourses while advancing innovative paradigms. By bringing together leading scholars, it deepens our understanding of children’s rights through critical, interdisciplinary perspectives. Indispensable for scholars and practitioners alike, this volume reshapes the field with rigour and insight.
Professor Shazly Savahl, University of the Western Cape, University of Cape Town, South Africa, and Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Critical Children’s Rights Studies: A Research Companion rows through rivers less navigated to chart new waters in children’s rights. A series of critical thinking seminars set the authors on their journey to uncover streams of research that flow towards a critical assessment of children. A must-read for those who take children’s rights seriously.
Professor Ann Skelton, Professor of Law, Leiden University, the Netherlands, and Chairperson, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
The contributors to the Critical Children’s Rights Studies: A Research Companion engage in profound debates about the complexities of children’s rights challenging dominant discourses as well as offering alternative paths to children’s rights; the book is an outstanding contribution to current debates and to the emerging field of critical children’s rights studies.
Professor Spyros Spyrou, Professor in Sociocultural Anthropology, European University Cyprus
Critical Children's Rights Studies: A Research Companion tackles global challenges facing children, offering profound insights into rights, power, and agency. This groundbreaking multidisciplinary volume reimagines debates on children's rights through diverse perspectives and methods, inspiring transformative thinking and action to advance their well-being in today’s complex world.
Dr Jana Tabak,Assistant Professor, State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Brazil
ISBN: 9781032827612
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 680g
324 pages