Childhood in Liberal Theory Equality, Difference, and Children's Rights

by Brando, Nicolás

• ISBN13: 9780197267769
• ISBN10: 0197267769
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-12-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Children are systematically treated differently as political and legal subjects due to their assumed weaknesses, incapacities, and particular needs. How does this differential status fit in with the principles of justice that structure our society, law, and morality?

Despite the growth of philosophical research on childhood and children's rights during the last decades, there has been no systematic study on the moral and political status of children in liberal political theory. Childhood in Liberal Theory fills this gap, and offers a novel look at the concept of 'childhood' and children's rights within the tradition of liberal theories of justice. Brando proposes an ambitious deconstruction of the concept of 'childhood', and an Adaptive model of children's rights as the most apt way of including children within liberal discourses on justice.

Author Biography

Nicolás Brando, Derby Fellow, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool

Nicolás Brando is a Colombian philosopher working on childhood and children's rights, with a particular focus on theories of justice, children's rights, vulnerability, and the capabilities approach. He is the Deputy-Director of the European Children's Rights Unit and a Derby Fellow at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool. He was previously a Newton International Fellow at Queen's University Belfast. He has published widely on the capabilities approach, theories of childhood and children's rights, education theory, and global justice.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and TablesAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Just for KidsPart I: Defining Childhood1. The Concept of Childhood and Social Ontology2. Childhood: Life-Stage Conceptions3. Childhood: The Liberationist Conception4. An Adaptive Conception of ChildhoodPart II: Grounding Children's Rights5. Theories of Rights: Choices, Interests, and Capabilities6. Children's Rights: Liberationist and Standard Liberal Approaches7. Children's Rights: The Convention8. An Adaptive model for Children's RightsPart III: Applying the Adaptive Model9. What (if Anything) is Wrong with Child Labour?10. Is Child Disenfranchisement Justified?11. Can Children be Excluded from Public Spaces?Conclusion: Not Just for KidsBibliographyIndex