Bristol University Press
6 The Representative Breakthrough? Children and Youth Representation in the Global Governance of Migration
Abstract
The unprecedented institutionalization and mainstreaming of children and youth participation in international decision-making processes in recent decades has significantly accelerated the organization of various bodies and strategies in areas such as climate, peace and security, health, and migration. In the context of The Global Forum on Migration and Development and The Global Compact for Migration, migration governance has experienced a major expansion, formalization, and institutionalization of children and youth representation, what I call a ‘representative breakthrough’. Despite significant growth in the presence of young delegates in governance processes, these forms of political representation have developed along discursive and institutional trajectories that limit what kinds of representations are facilitated. I argue that including young people in global governance on matters affecting them has led to recognition and advancement of their rights and interests, but also a technology of government resulting in non-performance of child and youth representation.
Abstract
The unprecedented institutionalization and mainstreaming of children and youth participation in international decision-making processes in recent decades has significantly accelerated the organization of various bodies and strategies in areas such as climate, peace and security, health, and migration. In the context of The Global Forum on Migration and Development and The Global Compact for Migration, migration governance has experienced a major expansion, formalization, and institutionalization of children and youth representation, what I call a ‘representative breakthrough’. Despite significant growth in the presence of young delegates in governance processes, these forms of political representation have developed along discursive and institutional trajectories that limit what kinds of representations are facilitated. I argue that including young people in global governance on matters affecting them has led to recognition and advancement of their rights and interests, but also a technology of government resulting in non-performance of child and youth representation.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Notes on Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xiv
- Introduction: Children and Childhoods in Global Political Perspective 1
-
Imagined Childhoods
- ‘Anchor Babies’ and ‘Imposter Children’: Childhoods’ Representations in Global Migration Politics 17
- Creating Inclusive Reconciliation and Reporting Spaces with Children: Valuing Their Stories 31
- Stories about Children Born of Violence: Counter-narratives in the Peruvian Truth Commission’s Archive and Popular Culture 45
- (Un)Recognition of Child Soldiers’ Agency in UN Peacekeeping Practice 58
-
Governed Childhoods
- Contested Children’s and Young People’s Political Representation in Global Health 73
- The Representative Breakthrough? Children and Youth Representation in the Global Governance of Migration 87
- The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict: A Normative Agenda and Children’s Agency in Armed Conflict 101
- In/visible Subjects: Global Migration Management and the Integration of Refugee Children into Schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 114
- Alone and on the Move: Unaccompanied Children in UK Parliamentary Debates 2015–2016 127
- Pathologies of Child Governance: Safe Harbor Laws and Children Involved in the Sex Trade in the United States 140
-
Lived Childhoods
- Childhood, Playing War, and Militarism: Beyond Discourses of Domination/Resistance and Towards an Ethics of Encounter 155
- Troubling Girl Power Environmentalism: Indigenous Girls, Climate Change Activism, and a Relational Ethic of Responsibility 167
- Children’s Intifada: Children as Participants in a Violent Conflict 180
- Children’s Agency and Co-construction of Everyday Militarism(s): Representations and Realities of War in Ukrainian Children’s Art, 2014–2022 193
- Centring the Demand for Critical Climate Justice Education 210
- Index 225
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Notes on Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements xiv
- Introduction: Children and Childhoods in Global Political Perspective 1
-
Imagined Childhoods
- ‘Anchor Babies’ and ‘Imposter Children’: Childhoods’ Representations in Global Migration Politics 17
- Creating Inclusive Reconciliation and Reporting Spaces with Children: Valuing Their Stories 31
- Stories about Children Born of Violence: Counter-narratives in the Peruvian Truth Commission’s Archive and Popular Culture 45
- (Un)Recognition of Child Soldiers’ Agency in UN Peacekeeping Practice 58
-
Governed Childhoods
- Contested Children’s and Young People’s Political Representation in Global Health 73
- The Representative Breakthrough? Children and Youth Representation in the Global Governance of Migration 87
- The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict: A Normative Agenda and Children’s Agency in Armed Conflict 101
- In/visible Subjects: Global Migration Management and the Integration of Refugee Children into Schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 114
- Alone and on the Move: Unaccompanied Children in UK Parliamentary Debates 2015–2016 127
- Pathologies of Child Governance: Safe Harbor Laws and Children Involved in the Sex Trade in the United States 140
-
Lived Childhoods
- Childhood, Playing War, and Militarism: Beyond Discourses of Domination/Resistance and Towards an Ethics of Encounter 155
- Troubling Girl Power Environmentalism: Indigenous Girls, Climate Change Activism, and a Relational Ethic of Responsibility 167
- Children’s Intifada: Children as Participants in a Violent Conflict 180
- Children’s Agency and Co-construction of Everyday Militarism(s): Representations and Realities of War in Ukrainian Children’s Art, 2014–2022 193
- Centring the Demand for Critical Climate Justice Education 210
- Index 225
