1 - Tracing the Western Origins of Global Children’s Rights Discourses

Summary

Introduction

Today, the notion of children's rights is perceived as global and universal by sections of the population in many societies in both the Global North and the Global South. It is now recognized as a concept that is supposed to have meaning in the lives of those regarded as children, now widely defined in the legal framework of diverse countries as all those under the age of 18. This increased visibility of children's rights is now evident in diverse parts of the world regardless of the socioeconomic and cultural context in which childhoods are experienced – to such an extent that a violation of children's rights in many countries is quick to be spotted and flagged up for intervention by many adults and children alike. Despite the prevalence of this notion, at least within policy, practitioner and, increasingly, media and public discourses, the notion of children's rights that are foregrounded in dominant discourses in a range of countries can be traced back to the specific circumstances that underpinned the evolution of Western European societies from what was perceived as their ‘primitive’ past to their so- called rationale, ‘civilized’ modern present. Specifically, these transformations were characterized by social and economic upheavals which accompanied the modernization and industrialization of Western European and North American societies (see Twum- Danso Imoh, 2020). Although the concepts of human and children's rights have evolved over time, there remains a linkage between this historical legacy and contemporary understandings of children's rights that are reflected in dominant human and children's rights discourses and policy making within global institutions.

Therefore, in a discussion about dominant children's rights principles, even in contexts which are historically, culturally and socially distinct from those from which they emerged – Western Europe and North America – it is still important to start by casting our attention back to the historical developments that took place in these regions and explore their implications for shaping the way:

• • understandings of childhoods changed;

• • the impact these transformations had on constructions and reconstructions of children's capabilities, their needs and, indeed, their rights; and

• • how these have shaped societies in the South, especially from the early 20th century onwards.