Child as Method as an Intersectional Frame for Conceptualising the Geopolitics of Child Rights

Abstract

In this paper I discuss an approach I have termed, “Child as method”, which I suggest provides some useful perspectives on child rights debates and concerns, specifically in connecting these with the realm of the geopolitical and, beyond that, insisting on how such connections deepens understanding of their significance. Building on previous work examining the relations and “translation” processes between global and local in the (re)formulation and implementation of child rights instruments, a conceptualisation of geopolitical context is presented as constitutive of the range of theories and practices surrounding child rights, and vice versa. The feminist and postcolonial conceptual resources informing Child as method are outlined, with examples offered of specific projects that have used this in child rights-related work. It is suggested that, far from diminishing the relevance and utility of Child as method, the non-child-centred assumptions underlying this approach might helpfully promote ways of working with and for children and young people, based on solidarity rather than, for example, the discretionary humanism structured within prevailing notions of recognition or identification.