Abstract
This chapter draws Chaps. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 together for analysis of the content of them. It goes on to develop beyond a straightforward process of analysis to arrive at conclusions that relate directly to the original question that asks whether the notion of children’s citizenship is either realism or romanticism. It furthermore attempts to explore the elements of citizenship described in Chap. 3 and ascertain whether or not they are at all present and suggest if not how they might be. The conclusion additionally points toward an achievable future in which children may well become full citizens. It also sets out to encourage discourse that may provide contributions to the more elusive questions regarding the definitive resolution to issues such as ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ that process might begin.
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Notes
- 1.
Recent child labour studies have moved away from the historical notion of the fully employed child without a childhood. Even where they worked they were less well paid, were not represented by unions as they emerged, had no workplace tenure as assured employment appeared and far more. Likewise, when one examines data from the period between the Factories Acts and the beginning of compulsory education in nineteenth century England one sees that one of the reasons for having compulsory school attendance was the increased numbers of idle children and youth who politicians felt threatened by, which tells us they were already there (For instance, see Corrigan 1979).
- 2.
Zelizer was mainly writing about the USA but her work can be extended to advanced industrial societies at comparable stages.
- 3.
This requires examination of the entire book, which is a Sisyphean task given its length is 712 pages.
- 4.
The world sacralisation originated in the province of religion and is used when an object, idea or person is basically regarded as vulnerable or untouchable. Depending on how it is used its antonym can be either secularisation or diabolisation which both seem very far removed from the position of the child, although the latter may well describe the ‘threats’ to children in the world around them. It is perhaps notable that demonization of young people has become an issue on the contemporary agenda.
- 5.
There are several organisations including Global Children’s Movement, Global Movement for Children and Global Children’s Foundation already using the expression and Childhood: A journal of global child research published by Sage which is one of the most influential journals of its kind.
- 6.
During work in Viet Nam it has come to my notice that increasing drug use, violence and vandalism in public places, materialism (children ‘must have’ MP3 players, computers, etc.) and things we are already well acquainted with in the West are becoming major issues, not yet documented but encroaching on domains I have worked in such as with street child and the physical and emotional punishment of children.
- 7.
Myra Bluebond-Langner has not only worked with dying children (1978) but the reason she uses the expression ‘private worlds’ in her title becomes patently clear when one reads the interviews and how wise those sick children appear to be.
- 8.
I am using the British term governor, in fact school boards take a large variety of forms that include teachers, administrators, parents, local politicians and officials, etc., and increasingly have either a link to the school council or (as in Welsh secondary schools for example) that council has representation on the board of governors, directors or whatever form it takes who share varying degrees of decision making with at least full share in the Netherlands and parts of Germany at the pinnacle of that role.
- 9.
The Swansea school where I had two children and formerly served as parent governor and link governor to the school council, children from Year 1 (age 6) upward had interviewed all permanent post candidates for at least 3 years.
- 10.
This is made up of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Optional Protocol to the latter (see also Chap. 7).
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Milne, B. (2013). Conclusion. In: The History and Theory of Children’s Citizenship in Contemporary Societies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6521-4_12
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