Overview

2021 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Magazine How globalization is undermining sustainable social environments for children This book uses the ecological model of child development together with ethnographic and comparative studies of two small villages, in Italy and the United States, as its framework for examining the well-being of children in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Global forces, far from being distant and abstract, are revealed as wreaking havoc in children’s environments even in economically advanced countries. Falling birth rates, deteriorating labor conditions, fraying safety nets, rising rates of child poverty, and a surge in racism and populism in Europe and the United States are explored in the petri dish of the village. Globalism’s discontents—unrestrained capitalism and technological change, rising inequality, mass migration, and the juggernaut of climate change—are rapidly destabilizing and degrading the social and physical environments necessary to our collective survival and well-being. This crisis demands a radical restructuring of our macrosystemic value systems. Woodhouse proposes an ecogenerist theory that asks whether our policies and politics foster environments in which children and families can flourish. It proposes, as a benchmark, the family-supportive human-rights principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The book closes by highlighting ways in which individuals can engage at the local and regional levels in creating more just and sustainable worlds that are truly fit for children.

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9780814794845

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Reviews

The Ecology of Childhood invites the reader to join Woodhouse, one of the leading authorities on children's rights, on a remarkable journey-one in which she demonstrates an exceptional ability to understand children and connect their lived experience to the law and other systems that govern the lives of children and families. An extraordinary interdisciplinary book that articulates a vision for how we can build communities, and ultimately a world, in which all children can thrive. * Jonathan Todres, Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law * This passionate denunciation of the damage caused to the world's children skillfully interweaves the economic and social data with ethnographic observation of two small communities, one in Italy and the other in the USA, and personal memoir. Woodhouse's advocacy of 'ecogenerism' will be an inspiration to readers. * John Eekelaar, FBA, Emeritus Fellow, Pembroke College, Oxford * A transformative book . . . The author's clear prose, gripping stories, and delightful photographs bring complex ideas and rigorous interdisciplinary research to life. Woodhouse is a realist; she recognizes that we may have passed the tipping point. But she concludes what may turn out to be a grim story with concrete strategies, making a powerful and convincing case that 'universal human rights, far from being distant abstractions, can serve as a blueprint for preserving and protecting the small worlds of children.' A brilliant, deeply thoughtful, and important book, not just for academics and social scientists, but for anyone who cares about children or the planet. * Barbara J Stark, author of Human Rights and Children * A rare achievement in the literature both on childhood and on human rights, beautifully crafted [with] an impressive variety of research methods and multi-disciplinary analysis. She makes a totally compelling call for us to recognize the problems of the 'small' as global problems, inextricably intertwined in space and time. Essential reading not only for the study of childhoods but also for anyone whose decisions affect children-that is, the whole of humankind. * Jane Williams, Swansea University *

This passionate denunciation of the damage caused to the world's children skillfully interweaves the economic and social data with ethnographic observation of two small communities, one in Italy and the other in the USA, and personal memoir. Woodhouse's advocacy of 'ecogenerism' will be an inspiration to readers. * John Eekelaar, FBA, Emeritus Fellow, Pembroke College, Oxford * The Ecology of Childhood invites the reader to join Woodhouse, one of the leading authorities on children's rights, on a remarkable journey-one in which she demonstrates an exceptional ability to understand children and connect their lived experience to the law and other systems that govern the lives of children and families. An extraordinary interdisciplinary book that articulates a vision for how we can build communities, and ultimately a world, in which all children can thrive. * Jonathan Todres, Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law * A transformative book . . . The author's clear prose, gripping stories, and delightful photographs bring complex ideas and rigorous interdisciplinary research to life. Woodhouse is a realist; she recognizes that we may have passed the tipping point. But she concludes what may turn out to be a grim story with concrete strategies, making a powerful and convincing case that 'universal human rights, far from being distant abstractions, can serve as a blueprint for preserving and protecting the small worlds of children.' A brilliant, deeply thoughtful, and important book, not just for academics and social scientists, but for anyone who cares about children or the planet. * Barbara J Stark, author of Human Rights and Children * A rare achievement in the literature both on childhood and on human rights, beautifully crafted [with] an impressive variety of research methods and multi-disciplinary analysis. She makes a totally compelling call for us to recognize the problems of the 'small' as global problems, inextricably intertwined in space and time. Essential reading not only for the study of childhoods but also for anyone whose decisions affect children-that is, the whole of humankind. * Jane Williams, Swansea University *

Author Information

Barbara Bennett Woodhouse is L. Q. C. Lamar Professor of Law at Emory University and director of the Emory Child Rights Project. She is the author of The Ecology of Childhood: How Our Changing World Threatens Children;s Rights (NYU Press, 2020) and Hidden in Plain Sight: The Tragedy of Children’s Rights from Ben Franklin to Lionel Tate (Princeton University Press, 2008).

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