The Sociology of Children's Rights. By BrianGran. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2021. ISBN: 978‐1‐509‐52784‐7, 259 pp. $64.95 (hb)

Abstract

Academic publications on children’s rights––undertaken from different perspectives––have witnessed significant growth in recent years. The book under review is one such, where the author 'employs sociology to study children's rights'(Gran 2021: 1). Sociology is the common, broader field of reference for the issues analysed in this book. The sociological perspective brings new questions and allows the author to introduce new, critical aspects of researching and analysing the practice of children’s rights. The author draws attention to the double standard with regard to the legal framework, which on the one hand, is designed to protect children's rights and on the other hand, makes it difficult for children and young people themselves to have and enjoy those rights. The author has managed to combine quite diverse issues concerning the construction of rights, key theories for understanding what children's rights are and why they are so important, into one coherent whole. The book is a harmonised polyphony of content dedicated to reflecting on key questions: what rights young people have, whether these rights promote equality, as well as how these rights affect children's identities, freedoms and their participation in society; whether we need children’s rights in the world of human rights. The author has divided the material into six chapters, alongside an Introduction and Appendices. The layout of the book is clear, which means that every reader, regardless of their familiarity with these scholarly debates will find the book’s content important and inspiring. The first chapter ‘What Are Children's Rights?’ takes a closer look at the historical background, roots and stages of the emergence of children's rights and the bundles and typologies of rights. The analysis indicates that despite the wide range of children's rights, there is a perceived lack of political rights and few of the available rights are privileges or entitlements of children. The next two chapters focus on the role and condition of institutions and structures that have been established to monitor and promote children's rights, and what defines children's rights policy and its implications for children's rights. The author explores the status of children's political rights, draws attention to ageism and the marginalisation of these rights and what political rights can potentially do for young people. Chapter four deals with the meanings that young people attribute to their rights, the areas in which they perceive the impact of their rights and the role and significance that young people’s rights have in relation to societies they are part of. The author introduces selected pathways, approaches and methods from across the social science, thanks to which we can learn what young people think about their rights. These important themes are continued in another chapter highlighting the right to have rights and the impact of rights on children. Reviewing the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, other UN bodies, UN agencies, UN Special Procedures, the author looks at what children can achieve through their rights, particularly in terms of their interests and welfare. He also raises the question of the benefits that accrue to adults as a result of children's rights. The consideration is sealed by the sixth chapter structured around the search for an answer to the question ‘What Is Right with Children's Rights?’. The author reveals and justifies the arguments for and against children's rights (e.g. the dilemmas of the movement to advance children's rights, relativism, the divergence of children's interests and those of adults, the dependence of young people on others for their rights). We have become accustomed to the 'presence' of children's rights in international and national legislation, hence, it is difficult for us to imagine what would happen if they were not there. It is even more difficult, as the author concludes, to realise that children's rights have not been systematically conceptualised and legislations fail because many of the rights contained in international legislations are not present in the UN CRC or remain in contradiction. Children, as human beings, are entitled to all human rights, yet, there is a lack of global research today that includes children's voices on what they think about their rights. Research in a participatory approach based on an ethical symmetry that takes into account the perspective of children and adults seems to be one of the available solutions. This book is an excellent compendium for all social scientists and students working on children's rights in sociology, political science, social policy, childhood studies, education studies and legal sciences.