Global: Politics and Child Protection

Societies are at an intersection when it comes to how children are treated and how their rights are respected. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 is almost universally ratified and has amplified and strengthened the place of the world's 2.2 billion children in the societal discourse about inclusion, dignity and respect. The progress achieved in the 20th century and since, has resulted in new sensitivities about human rights across the globe, with increased recognition of marginalised groups in society. Among these developments, the rights of children have increasingly become a direct concern and responsibility of the state. One key responsibility for governments is to have a child protection system, i.e. public systems that are responsible for children at risk of harm or neglect from their caregivers or who may be at risk of harm to themselves or others. As the discourse of children's rights ascends, normative notions of the traditional relationship between the family and the state are disrupted.

Children, nested in families, are both independent and dependent actors; the state's intervention in families on behalf of children, therefore, has the potential to problematize and question a core institution in society. Further, state actions on behalf of children can be extremely consequential for families. When parents are unable or unwilling to perform their parental obligations, the state - through its child protection system--can undertake invasive interventions to curtail or even terminate parental rights and responsibilities. To secure children's best interests, the state might place children in foster homes or residential units, or let another family adopt the child. Child protection systems represent an immensely strong state power that simultaneously secures and challenges individual freedom and the privacy and autonomy of family life. Child protection systems are often contested and criticized, and because of the competing priorities at stake to both protect children and preserve families, it is often difficult to discern if the nature of government intervention is appropriate.

This elective course examines a global approach to child protection through deep reading and individual as well as joint discussion of selected chapters from the Oxford Handbook of Child Protection Systems (2023). An objective is to also identify some of the defining elements and boundaries for a global typology of child protection by examining popular views and judicial perspectives about family and state responsibility for children in vulnerable situations. Discussion of the readings of the literature will be undertaken in a dialogue-oriented seminar structure, based on students' regular preparation of a short research brief (which summarizes three key readings per session before class) and with rotating responsibility for moderating the discussion. Willingness to prepare the session readings in-depth is thus essential for successful participation in this course.

A student who has completed the course should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student knows:

• major debates on protection of children as a global challenge,
• overview of the typology on global child protection systems
• the key concepts in child protection and how to study the politics of child protection

Skills

The student can:

• evaluate, synthesize, and critically appraise existing social science research on the politics of child protection
• develop and apply their own conceptual-analytical approach to the politics and governance of child protection as a global challenge,
• identify and analyse relevant empirical cases of child protection polices independently and in a nuanced manner.

General competence

The student can:

• identify and present complex phenomena in the field of global child protection policy in a nuanced and critical manner,
• develop, present, discuss and defend own arguments about scholarly readings and empirical phenomena in dialogue with peers,
• structure and moderate group discussions in an inclusive manner.