Introduction

Among those who see children's rights as an important achievement and advocate for them, there is agreement that children must be respected and taken seriously as subjects. This is not only as subject in the legal sense, but also in the sociological and psychological sense. The recognition of children as subjects leads to the conclusion not to emphasize what children are not yet able to do, but to focus on their existing or emerging abilities to express opinions, judge and act (agency). It is therefore also important that children are able to express their views freely, gather with other children in their own interest and influence all decisions that concern them (participation). Since children and girls in particular are in a subordinate and marginalized social position, emphasis is placed on the need to strengthen them (empowerment). In view of the temporary or permanent difficulties that many children face in their lives, emphasis is also placed on their capacity to overcome adversities (resilience) and the need to promote it.

I consider all these concepts to be significant and the assumptions and intentions they contain to be relevant and necessary. Nevertheless, I also think it is important to draw attention to some blind spots and problems associated with them. These are not deduced from the concepts themselves, but from a more precise analysis of the social contexts and situations in which children find themselves, and in which the concepts have specific meanings. As the concepts of subject and subjectivity are central to this, I will focus on examining their various contexts, justifications and meanings in relation to children and their rights. Here, I put emphasis on childhoods of the Global South and engage in some reflections on its ambiguities and paradoxes as well as possible extensions and concretizations.

Children as subjects of rights

In children's rights discourse, the concept of the subject has a central and consistently positive meaning. It serves to attribute to children their own legal and social status, which must be respected by society. By designating children as legal subjects or subjects with rights of their own, it emphasizes that they are not dependent on the goodwill of people who have more power than they do that is often exercised over them, but that these persons, just like the state, are legally and morally obliged to respect children as persons with their own dignity. Like human rights, children's rights are both objective and subjective rights. Reference to objective rights emphasizes the obligations of society or the state towards children; reference to subjective rights emphasizes that children themselves can claim and assert their rights.