Synopses & Reviews
This book provides an insight into a lively field of international human rights politics -- the protection of children and their rights -- focusing on the negotiations leading to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Anna Holzscheiter uses a critical discourse-analytical framework to explore the different dimensions of power and exclusion that had an impact on the final provisions contained in the Convention, dramatically reshaping the identity of the child in international politics. Children were largely seen and treated as innocent, vulnerable and mute objects of adult charity and compassion until well into the second half of the 20th century. However, with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children achieved the status of active rights-holders and subjects under international law. Holzscheiter explores the growing literature on norm change in international relations and sociological studies of negotiations between states and non-state actors, discussing at length the revolutionary contribution of NGOs to the drafting process.
About the Author
ANNA HOLZSCHEITER is a Lecturer at the Center for Transnational Relations, Foreign and Security Policy Studies at Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany. She has been involved in several consultancies with UNICEF and has written a Commentary on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Article 20 - Children Without Parental Care together with Nigel Cantwell.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Power and Exclusion in Discourse Approaches to International Relations
Discursive Transformation and the Role of Institutions
Global Childhood - An Essentially Uncontested Concept?
Origins of the Drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Discursive Practices Within the UN and the Transformation of a Global Childhood Paradigm
Exclusionary Facets of the Social Ebvironment and their Effects on the New Image of Childhood
Conclusion - Future Prospects for an Analysis of Norm Change through Discourse