Childhood in Liberal Theory

Nicolás Brando is a Colombian philosopher working on childhood and children's rights, with a particular focus on theories of justice, children's rights, vulnerability, and the capabilities approach. He is the Deputy-Director of the European Children's Rights Unit and a Derby Fellow at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool. He was previously a Newton International Fellow at Queen's University Belfast. He has published widely on the capabilities approach, theories of childhood and children's rights, education theory, and global justice.

This book is a wonderful exploration of the important idea that there is something fundamentally unjust and wrong with treating children differently from adults. To that end Nico Brando challenges the presumptions of contemporary liberal egalitarianism in making that distinction, defends what he sees as the proper understanding of 'childhood', argues for the best way to accommodate children within a comprehensive liberal theory of justice, and shows what practical difference his own approach will make to the lives of children. This is a highly original, rich, thoughtful, and robustly argued contribution to the literature of moral and political theory devoted to childhood and children.

• List of Figures and TablesAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Just for KidsPart I: Defining Childhood1: The Concept of Childhood and Social Ontology2: Childhood: Life-Stage Conceptions3: Childhood: The Liberationist Conception4: An Adaptive Conception of ChildhoodPart II: Grounding Children's Rights5: Theories of Rights: Choices, Interests, and Capabilities6: Children's Rights: Liberationist and Standard Liberal Approaches7: Children's Rights: The Convention8: An Adaptive model for Children's RightsPart III: Applying the Adaptive Model9: What (if Anything) is Wrong with Child Labour?10: Is Child Disenfranchisement Justified?11: Can Children be Excluded from Public Spaces?Conclusion: Not Just for KidsBibliographyIndex