The Social Reconstruction of Childhood after World War II through the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959

Abstract

This thesis aims to shed light on the emergence of child rights from international human rights movements in the mid-twentieth century post-World War II. It investigates how child rights emerge through a social reconstruction of childhood by way of the United Nation’s Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959. Using the theory of Philippe Ariés and a few other human rights scholars and historians, this thesis examines the social construction of childhood through the dimensions and qualities of the child. It looks for a transformation to a more universal human rights implementation, rather than the short–term solutions that humanitarianism provided. This thesis aims to be able to fill the gap of knowledge around the social reconstruction of childhood in the mid-twentieth century, as well as add knowledge to the child rights movement of the twentieth century. The following questions are addressed: What dimensions of childhood were reflected in the 1959 UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child? And in what ways were experiences of World War II and immediate post-war years, in particular the phenomenon of the unaccompanied child, reflected in the 1959 Declaration?