Globalization and Children: Exploring Potentials for Enhancing Opportunities in the Lives of Children and Youth

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 14 No. 2 (2004) ISSN: 1546-2250 Globalization and Children: Exploring Potentials for Enhancing Opportunities in the Lives of Children and Youth Hevener Kaufman, Natalie and Rizzini, Irene (2002). New York: Kluwer Plenum; 176 pages. $55.00. ISBN 0306473682. Considering, first, that children make up a significant proportion of the population everywhere and, second, that no nation in the world is exempt from the influences of globalization, it is striking how little has been written about the impacts of globalization on children. Indeed, the very dearth of such literature is a telling indication of the marginalization of young people- simply because they are young- in today’s world whose dominant paradigm values people chiefly in terms of their contributions to economic productivity. Globalization and Children… is thus timely and helps to direct attention to important issues largely neglected by researchers. The book is a compilation of papers based on two seminars organized by Child watch International. It contains 13 chapters, organized into three parts, and a brief conclusion which constitutes part four. Part I offers “The Global Perspective” and proceeds from the laying out of a framework for the study of globalization, through reviews of cross-cultural and legal perspectives of globalization in relation to children and youth, to a discussion of democratization in children’s lives. Under the title “Global Trends in Children’s Lives,” Part II includes five chapters that cover family life, civic participation, the environment, the media, and developmental-ecological considerations. Part III is entitled, “Applying the Lens of Global Change to the Actual Lives of Children.” Each of its three chapters is concerned with Latin America. The first of these offers a general treatment of the transition to democracy in this region of the world. However, the rationale for its inclusion is not 289 clear as it does not in any way link this democratic transition to the lives of children. Part IV consists of a very brief (2.5 pages) conclusion by the editors which recapitulates points made earlier, namely that the effects of globalization on children and youth manifest themselves in economic, cultural and political spheres and form a mix of positive as well as negative outcomes. It also reemphasizes the importance of listening to children and respecting their views. Although its intended audience is not clarified, taken as a whole, this book can be useful for readers seeking an introduction to selected aspects of how globalization relates to children and youth. However, the role of individual chapters is not always apparent. Some chapters deal with aspects of globalization but give no or very little attention to children (e.g., the chapters that focus on civic participation, the democratic transition in Latin America, and neo-liberal policies in Jamaica), while another chapter focuses on children’s developmental and ecological contexts, but gives minimal attention to globalization. The book’s structure is a bit arbitrary as there is significant overlap between chapters in Parts I and II that deal with aspects of democratization. The editors provide a solid introductory chapter and a concise but articulate conclusion, but in neither place do they attempt to pull together the diverse chapters in between. They do not draw out from the chapters insights that coalesce into a larger picture, nor do they reconcile divergent views (e.g. Chapter Ten paints a bleak picture of Latin American democracy that contrasts with the following chapter, which reviews positive developments in Brazil). Hence, the impression one gets is that the potential for integration of the various chapters into a truly coherent presentation is largely unfulfilled. The depth of coverage is somewhat uneven. The chapters in Part I are the most detailed and strongest. Also well-developed is the chapter on Brazil, which would have been a good model for fellow authors to follow. In other places, opportunities to 290 obtain useful insights are limited by the brevity of coverage in short paragraphs of sometimes just a few sentences, which merely raise a point without further discussion or connection to the next paragraph. For example, a one-sentence paragraph in the chapter on civic participation mentions a finding by Barber that “youth who participated in the...