• Per Wickenberg
• 2023-02-09 19:19

Dear all

In August 2023, between August 30^th and September the 1^st at the Sociolegal conference in Lund, we are arranging a panel on Empowering Children and Youth through Law and Participation. The conference will be on-site in Lund, but opportunities to attend at Zoom are offered.

We think it would be fantastic if you join us with a paper proposal. See the panel description below. Here you find information on how to register your papers: 

https://sv-se.eu.invajo.com/events/tab/tabId/29fadf70-5ea1-11ed-83c9-45a8d470465d/id/2432a960-5ea1-11ed-a5be-119a72af7dd8.

Please write at the top of the page that you are part of the panel Empowering Children and Youth through Law and Participation.

Empowering Children and Youth through Law and Participation

The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified in most countries, which means that the various authorities and representatives must take the Convention into account when making decisions. However, the Convention has not had the desired impact. For many years, criticism has been voiced that the underlying idea and concept of the CRC is not reflected in the way countries deal with issues that affect children in various ways.

One of these ideas is that the best interests of the child should be a central starting point in all decisions concerning children, another is that the child should be seen as an individual with rights of his or her own, entitled to participation. The notion of how this should be done; what is the best interests of the child, what the child's right to participation means and how empowerment is understood and interpreted varies within and between countries, which is possible as the law itself does not specify what applies in different cases. This panel explores how children's empowerment, through Law and Participation, is addressed, understood and interpreted in different countries.

We invite contributions that highlight the work of different countries/authorities/ stakeholders on Empowering Children and Youth through Law and Participation.

We welcome contributions that seek to understand and explain the role of law and participation in empowering children.

Questions that can be addressed are:

How can we understand the challenges and opportunities of the law to strengthen children's participation?

How can we understand children's opportunities for participation?

What role do individual professional actors have in the work to strengthen children's rights?

How do children experience their opportunities for participation?

How do professional actors experience their opportunities to work for strengthen children's rights and participation? etc.

We will get back to you with more information after the 28th of February
Hope to see you in Lund or at Zoom.

Per Wickenberg & Anna Sonander, Sociology of Law Department

Lund University