ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the relationship between feminism and children’s rights. We argue that, despite the paucity of feminist writing on children’s rights, the emphasis within modern children’s rights scholarship on the symbolic and transformative power of rights is not only historically resonant but constitutes a point of common interest for feminism and children’s rights. By way of introduction, we consider the fragmentary character of feminist and children’s rights discourses and the hitherto partial engagement of feminists with the children’s rights question. We then go on to explore the interconnectedness of the woman question with the child question and, having looked at some of the feminist contributions to the children’s rights literature, speculate how those feminists working around issues of difference might engage with this literature. Finally, we consider the idea of vulnerability, in order to open up a rethinking of notions of competence and adult-child relations, thus permitting a sketching out of the value of possible future feminist engagements with children’s rights.
