Decolonising international child protection in an era of climate crisis

气候危机时代国际儿童保护的非殖民化

• 批准号: 2874875
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Bath
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2874875
• 关键词: Decolonising; international; child; protection; era

Context Children alive today face a world characterized by economic, political, social and ecological instability as a result of Covid-19, conflict and climate collapse. Children from the Global South and those who already live in adversity are the worst affected. In response, international non-governmental agencies (INGOs) are scrambling to adapt their child protection programming to respond to these systemic disruptions. A major challenge lies in determining how mainstream understandings of violence against children, defined in largely interpersonal terms, are impacted by the concept of 'slow violence' which entails the gradual, invisible destruction of the planet and its marginal peoples (Nixon, 2011). In parallel, calls for the decolonization of aid are gaining ground in the international development sector, focused around dismantling systems of oppression, exclusion and 'white saviour' mentality that have permeated INGOs' work. While these calls are slowly emerging in the international child protection community, much debate remains in spaces where children and young people are excluded. Children and young people are ever more aware of their existential fragility are taking action to address it through protest and social movements. Yet they remain frustrated by the unwillingness of both governments and civil society to give them a seat at the table in reforming the broken international aid sector.Aims & methodologyThe overall aim of the research is to investigate the implications of the decolonisation of aid for international child protection programming in the context of the climate crisis. The research seeks to explore the following questions : How is the era of climate crisis, characterized by 'slow violence', challenging colonial legacies in international child protection programming? To what extent has the decolonisation of aid impacted on international child protection practice, particularly in relation to child participation and climate action? What are the implications of the decolonisation of aid for future international child protection programming and advocacy in an era of climate emergency?Drawing on the work of my proposed first supervisor (Howard 2017), my research aims to build a multi-sited, multi-layered picture of international child protection. This will entail working at the 'global level', within the headquarters and amongst senior officials of large international child protection institutions. I will complement this with two national level case studies, providing a window into how theory and practice are translated 'down' in differing cases from the Global North and Global South. The fieldwork will include a combination of key informant interviews; focus group discussion; ethnographic methods (participant observation); and participatory action research (PAR). The PAR processes at global and national levels will bring together INGO representatives, local climate activists, children and young people. ImpactThe research will constitute the most in-depth study to-date of the ways in which decolonial thinking impacts current international child protection practice in the context of ongoing crisis. By using PAR with INGO actors, climate activists and children in contexts of adversity, the research will open up critical reflection on systemic oppression and power imbalances. This has the potential to catalyse new modalities for sharing power with children and young people as a cornerstone of a new paradigm for responding to climate change as a form of structural violence against children.The research fits within two priority areas of the ESRC: climate change and sustainability; and politics and governance. It has the potential to transform strategic planning of INGOs, UN agencies and donors to generate new insights for the future of child protection programming on a fragile planet.

背景当今活着的儿童面临着一个以经济、政治、社会和生态不稳定为特征的世界，其结果是新冠肺炎、冲突和气候崩溃。来自全球南方的儿童和那些已经生活在逆境中的儿童受到的影响最大。作为回应，国际非政府机构(INGO)正争先恐后地调整其儿童保护规划，以应对这些系统性的干扰。一个主要的挑战在于确定对暴力侵害儿童的主流理解如何受到“缓慢暴力”概念的影响，这一概念主要是从人际关系的角度来定义的，这意味着对地球及其边缘人民的逐渐、无形的破坏(尼克松，2011年)。与此同时，在国际发展部门，要求援助非殖民化的呼声越来越高，重点是消除压迫、排斥和渗透到非政府组织工作中的“白人救世主”心态。虽然这些呼吁在国际儿童保护界慢慢浮现，但在儿童和年轻人被排除在外的领域，许多争论仍然存在。儿童和年轻人越来越意识到他们生存的脆弱性，正在采取行动，通过抗议和社会运动来解决这一问题。然而，他们仍然感到沮丧的是，政府和公民社会都不愿在改革支离破碎的国际援助部门时让他们在谈判桌上占有一席之地。目的与方法这项研究的总体目标是调查在气候危机背景下援助非殖民化对国际儿童保护规划的影响。这项研究试图探讨以下问题：气候危机时代，以“缓慢暴力”为特征，如何在国际儿童保护方案编制中挑战殖民遗产？援助的非殖民化在多大程度上影响了国际儿童保护做法，特别是在儿童参与和气候行动方面？在气候紧急状态下，援助非殖民化对未来的国际儿童保护规划和宣传有何影响？我的研究借鉴了我提议的第一位监督员(霍华德2017)的工作，旨在构建一幅多地点、多层次的国际儿童保护图景。这将需要在“全球一级”、在总部内以及在大型国际儿童保护机构的高级官员之间开展工作。我将用两个国家级的案例研究来补充这一点，提供一个窗口，让我们了解在全球北方和全球南方的不同案例中，理论和实践是如何被“向下”翻译的。实地考察工作将包括关键线人访谈、焦点小组讨论、民族志方法(参与者观察)和参与性行动研究(PAR)。全球和国家层面的PAR进程将把INGO代表、当地气候活动家、儿童和年轻人聚集在一起。这项研究将是迄今为止对非殖民主义思维在当前危机背景下如何影响当前国际儿童保护做法的最深入研究。通过使用与Ingo参与者、气候活动家和儿童在逆境中的对比，这项研究将开启对系统性压迫和权力失衡的批判性反思。这有可能催生与儿童和年轻人分享权力的新模式，作为应对气候变化作为针对儿童的结构性暴力形式的新范式的基石。这项研究符合ESRC的两个优先领域：气候变化和可持续性；以及政治和治理。它有可能改变国际非政府组织、联合国机构和捐助者的战略规划，为这个脆弱星球上儿童保护规划的未来产生新的见解。