Panel Discussion on Children’s Rights and Children’s Politics

Event Description

At a 1995 conference in Buenos Aires, sociologist and criminologist Alessandro Baratta—a pioneer in critical legal theory—made a striking claim: "if democracy is good for children, it is also true that children are good for democracy." This statement, later published as "Childhood as Archaeology of the Future," expressed his conviction that children's rights can only be fully realized within democratic systems, and that genuine democracy requires recognizing children as full citizens rather than diminished ones. Three decades have passed since that conference, and the world has changed dramatically. Yet the question Baratta raised feels more pressing than ever. As democracy faces crisis and authoritarianism rises globally, we must ask: where do children's rights stand in this shifting landscape? It is this central question on which this panel discussion will focus, with each panellist asked to consider the applicability of Barrata’s claim given the state of the world today, assess the meaning of children as full citizens and discuss the paradox of young people’s voices.

Hosts: Dr. Tim Fowler and Dr. Vicky Sharley

Panel Discussion Moderator: Professor Valeria Llobet, Universidad Nacional de San Martin, Argentina

Panellists:

· Dr. Afua Twum-Danso Imoh, the University of Bristol, UK

· Dr. Jonathan Josefsson, Linkoping University, Sweden

· Professor Kay Tisdall, University of Edinburgh, UK

· Dr. Didier Reynaert, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium.

· Dr. Nico Brando, University of Liverpool, UK

· Dr. Mohammed Alruzzi, the University of Bristol, UK

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Host or Publisher Faculty of Arts, University of Bristol