Parallel lines? Childhood discourses emphasized by the children’s rights movement and the emerging field of children’s rights studies

Abstract

This article is a response to Karl Hanson’s call for the emancipation of children’s rights studies from the children’s rights movement. It explores the emergence of the children’s rights movement and children’s rights studies and analyzes some of the key childhood discourses that are emphasized by these two different approaches. As a way to understand why Hanson calls for emancipation, and in an attempt to begin to emancipate children’s rights studies, the article works to deepen current and future spaces for discussion in the field.