Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All Children
Children’s rights are a blessing and a curse for undocumented migrant children. They are one of few available resources in migrant struggles, but at the same time they are also extensively mobilized to govern children’s mobility. In this article, I first analyze the limitations of children’s rights...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Helsinki University Press
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Nordic Journal of Migration Research |
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| Online Access: | https://account.journal-njmr.org/index.php/uh-j-njmr/article/view/731 |
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| author | Jacob Lind |
| author_facet | Jacob Lind |
| author_sort | Jacob Lind |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Children’s rights are a blessing and a curse for undocumented migrant children. They are one of few available resources in migrant struggles, but at the same time they are also extensively mobilized to govern children’s mobility. In this article, I first analyze the limitations of children’s rights as rooted in understandings of children as ‘innocent’ human ‘becomings’ and the colonial legacy and paradoxical character of rights. I then connect this discussion to a postcolonial analysis of who counts as ‘human’ enough for human rights. Building on these reflections, I construct a framework for how these limitations can be approached and utilized through perpetual and antagonistic struggles to give children’s rights renewed political meaning, always focusing on the rights of all children—an approach I call ‘child-right-ing’. I apply this concept to concrete examples from Sweden and the USA to identify strategies and tactics that have been utilized to both limit and extend the rights of undocumented migrant children. Through these discussions, I aim to contribute with a deepened understanding of the ambivalent role of children’s rights. I sketch an outline for a framework that can ensure that children’s rights are effectively utilized in contemporary struggles by and for undocumented migrant children—and potentially marginalized groups of children overall. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7ed905e065984e20a6591e0eb14af6fc |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1799-649X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Helsinki University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordic Journal of Migration Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-7ed905e065984e20a6591e0eb14af6fc2025-08-20T01:48:34ZengHelsinki University PressNordic Journal of Migration Research1799-649X2024-12-011447710.33134/njmr.731707Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All ChildrenJacob Lind0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3811-0892Department of Global Political Studies, Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö UniversityChildren’s rights are a blessing and a curse for undocumented migrant children. They are one of few available resources in migrant struggles, but at the same time they are also extensively mobilized to govern children’s mobility. In this article, I first analyze the limitations of children’s rights as rooted in understandings of children as ‘innocent’ human ‘becomings’ and the colonial legacy and paradoxical character of rights. I then connect this discussion to a postcolonial analysis of who counts as ‘human’ enough for human rights. Building on these reflections, I construct a framework for how these limitations can be approached and utilized through perpetual and antagonistic struggles to give children’s rights renewed political meaning, always focusing on the rights of all children—an approach I call ‘child-right-ing’. I apply this concept to concrete examples from Sweden and the USA to identify strategies and tactics that have been utilized to both limit and extend the rights of undocumented migrant children. Through these discussions, I aim to contribute with a deepened understanding of the ambivalent role of children’s rights. I sketch an outline for a framework that can ensure that children’s rights are effectively utilized in contemporary struggles by and for undocumented migrant children—and potentially marginalized groups of children overall.https://account.journal-njmr.org/index.php/uh-j-njmr/article/view/731undocumented migrant childrenchildren’s rightschild-right-ingmigrant strugglesparadoxes |
| spellingShingle | Jacob Lind Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All Children Nordic Journal of Migration Research undocumented migrant children children’s rights child-right-ing migrant struggles paradoxes |
| title | Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All Children |
| title_full | Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All Children |
| title_fullStr | Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All Children |
| title_full_unstemmed | Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All Children |
| title_short | Child-Right-ing: Going Beyond Innocence to Realize the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children through Struggles for the Rights of All Children |
| title_sort | child right ing going beyond innocence to realize the rights of undocumented migrant children through struggles for the rights of all children |
| topic | undocumented migrant children children’s rights child-right-ing migrant struggles paradoxes |
| url | https://account.journal-njmr.org/index.php/uh-j-njmr/article/view/731 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jacoblind childrightinggoingbeyondinnocencetorealizetherightsofundocumentedmigrantchildrenthroughstrugglesfortherightsofallchildren |