International Journal of Children’s Rights 16 (2008) 523–543 © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008 DOI 10.1163/157181808X312122 www.brill.nl/chil Human Rights in Light of Childhood John Wall Departments of Philosophy and Religion and Childhood Studies, Rutgers University Abstract his essay argues that children’s rights will adequately transform societies only when the very concept of “human rights” is reimagined in light of childhood. In this case, human rights would be understood as grounded, not in modernist ideas of autonomy, liberty, entitlement, or even agency, but in a postmodern circle of responsibility to one another. his “childist” interpretation of rights is constructed by examining various forms of child-centered ethical theory in Western history; their impacts on major human rights theories of the Enlightenment and today; alternative visions implied in twentieth century international children’s rights agreements; new theoretical groundings arising out of postmodern ethics; and the possibility of human rights as truly including all humanity. Keywords childhood; children’s rights; human rights; responsibility; humanity; otherness; postmodernity he language of “human rights” has increasingly been applied to children over the past century through national laws and international agreements such as the United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. he notion of children’s rights has wrought a historical sea change in how children are perceived and treated as members and participants in societies. At the same time, despite many gains, actual children around the world during this period have remained frustratingly marginalized, whether through poverty, ill health, lack of education, gender discrimination, child soldiering, or any number of other indicators of social well-being. his essay argues that the gap between children’s rights ideals and realities does not result entirely from a lack of practical resources and implementation. Nor, as some claim, is it that rights language is not appropriate for addressing children’s social issues. he deeper problem lies in how to understand “human rights” as such. 1 Despite the fact that children under 18 constitute a third of all human- ity, human rights continue to be ethically grounded in the experiences and per- spectives of adults. Children will remain second class citizens until the very idea of human rights is creatively rethought in light of childhood. Such a fundamental 1) I use the term “human rights” in the “moral” rather than “legal” sense, referring to rights that should be held by human beings whether or not they are actually instituted in national or international law.