Can there be any universal children's rights?: some considerations concerning relativity and enforcement
OUTPUT TYPE: Conference or seminar papers
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2002
TITLE AUTHOR(S): K.A.Bentley
KEYWORDS: CHILDREN'S RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS
DEPARTMENT: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES)
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 2513
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/8099
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/8099
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2002
TITLE AUTHOR(S): K.A.Bentley
KEYWORDS: CHILDREN'S RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS
DEPARTMENT: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES)
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 2513
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/8099
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/8099
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
This paper is intended for the purposes of discussion to raise questions, rather than present answers to the problem of the universality of children's rights. The paper considers the ideal definition of childhood implicit in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other domestic and international law documents, and questions whether or not this definition can have any universal purchase in light of vastly different conceptions of childhood both in South Africa and across the world. The paper seeks to make the distinction between fundamental rights that children have as human beings (non-derogable rights), and rights that they may be regarded as having in terms of their status as children by virtue of their age (derogable rights). It is the latter rights that are regarded as being most problematic in some universal sense. The paper then goes on to illustrate this by drawing on examples that pose challenges to the received conception of childhood underlying the CRC, and raises the question of whether the notion of children's rights should be rethought from a perspective of autonomy and obligation.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Concepts and standards of children's rights: some considerations of relativity and enforcement
- Concepts of childhood and the "right" treatment of children: culture, realtivity and human rights
- The global debate on multiculturalism and women's human rights in South Africa
- Making progress on children's rights: evidence and consultation for greater accountability: South Africa reports to international human rights treaty bodies
- Religion, globalisation, and human rights
- Human rights
- Globalisation and the world of work
- Whose right it is anyway? equality, culture and conflicts of rights in South Africa
- From racial liberalism to corporate authoritarianism: the Shell affair and the assault on academic freedom in South Africa
- Socio-economic rights in the South African constitution: theory and practice
- Challenges of promoting and protecting the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic communities
- A human rights perspective on policy implementation processes: observations from the South African public service
- A human rights perspective on policy implementation processes: observations from the South African public service
- The CYFD child rights and well-being monitoring research programme
- The global debate on multiculturalism and women's human rights in South Africa
- Women, culture and inequality: human rights and the feminisation of poverty in South Africa
- Whose right is it anyway?: equality and conflicts between state policy, culture and rights in South Africa
- Women's human rights and the "culture" of violence in South Africa
- Concept paper: awards to recognise those contributing to the celebration of the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic communities in South Africa
- Book review: Bhebe, N. & Ranger, T. (eds.) 2001. The historical dimensions of democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe. Volume 1:pre-colonial and colonial legacies. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications. 169 p. ISBN 0908307942