Social Imaginaries and Children’s Rights

Abstract

SynonymsChildren’s Rights; Education; ParticipationIntroductionThe United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC” or “the Convention”) is the global community’s agreed vision for its children. It establishes a set of values and norms, agreed by the world’s governments over a quarter of a century ago to inform laws and guide state action and social attitudes. It is a key expression of global states’ conception of childhood and one that has been influential, to varying degrees, in shaping wider social imaginaries in the member states of the United Nations.The Convention was adopted by the United Nations (“UN”) General Assembly in 1989 after 10 years of negotiation between the world’s governments (42 of whom participated in the drafting Working Group). Within its text, education features prominently not just in two dedicated provisions (Articles 28 and 29) but also through references to education for particular groups of children (such as children with disabilities and those ...