Peer-reviewed article

The Field of Children’s Rights: Taking Stock, Travelling Forward

Helen Stalford͌, Laura Lundy · 10 Mar 2020

Abstract

The Field of Children's Rights: Taking Stock, Travelling ForwardThe 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (uncrc) was a time for many in the field to take stock.Most of that focus was on the achievements or otherwise of the Convention itself.We chose to do something different.We chose to take stock of the field of research itself, drawing on some core themes as examples, and to interrogate what has been referred to as the 'tendency towards consensus-thinking surrounding the uncrc' (Quennerstedt, Robinson and I' Anson, 2018: 38).The papers featured in this special issue were initially presented at a conference in London in June 2019, sponsored by the Journal and the University of Liverpool.Each paper was prepared by established scholars in the field working in partnership with early career scholars.They were asked to reflect on key themes, methodological and theoretical innovations and, indeed, gaps in different areas of children's rights, including youth justice, migration, poverty and education.Contributors also reflected on advancements in empirical and conceptual research relating to child participation, on theories of children's rights and on mechanisms for incorporation of the uncrc into national law.In doing so, our aim was to stimulate critical reflection on the extent to which the uncrc has impacted on research, and to identify priorities for future research.We recognise that the suggestions raised in this collection of papers may not be the only important issues going forward, but collectively they provide crosscutting insights into the state of research in our field.For example, one pressing issue that arose during the conference delegates' discussion of the papers is the extent to which our efforts to take stock sufficiently represent and, indeed, support global research themes and practices.It has not escaped our attention that all but two of the contributors to our international conference in June and to this special issue are from Western Europe.This prompts some