Children, Young People, UNICEF and Participation

Young people's involvement in policy research

“…Rights, responsibilities and competencies in children's and young people's participation in decision-making is a recurring theme in Children's Geographies (see Skelton 2007, Beazley et al 2009, and Alderson, 2012 and was a central concern at the Network.…”

The Global as a Field: Children's Rights Advocacy as a Transnational Practice

“…We read this struggle as one shaping the rules (nomos) of the field of children's rights toward increasing autonomy, that is, independence from country-specific political and religious influences (see also Skelton, 2007;Kallio, 2012). That such field autonomy had not yet fully emerged during the drafting of the CRC can be seen from the fact that no agreement was attained regarding the definition of the child and childhood.…”

“…Children's rights advocates are increasingly driven by a professional necessity to take distance from the political and religious fields as alternative realms in the negotiation of the moral standards of their work (Freeman, 2002;Skelton, 2007;Rajabi-Ardeshiri, 2009). Consequently, the emergence of the field of children's rights can be seen as partly driven by the rise of what we call moral capital as a legitimating asset in struggles within the field (cf Valverde, 1994).…”

“…For instance the child's right to be heard and partake per se is hardly ever questioned but the means, forms, and goals of youthful participation are subject to contextual debates (e.g. Aitken et al, 2007;Skelton, 2007;Kallio and Häkli, 2011). The duality of the field of children's rights advocacy, characterized at once by shared abstract values and specialist contestation, makes it a compelling case for studying elite relations driven by struggles over expertize and recognition (what we later term 'moral capital').…”

“…These developments have drawn extensive attention to children's rights from both academics and policy makers in the past twenty years (Matthews and Limb, 1999;Skelton, 2007;Kallio, 2012). The vulnerability of children and young people, and the inequalities embedded in their social positions worldwide have truly become 'global concerns', and children's rights in Authors' copy.…”