Decolonising international child protection in an era of climate crisis

由于新冠肺炎、冲突和气候崩溃，今天活着的儿童面临着一个经济、政治、社会和生态不稳定的世界。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严重。对此，国际非政府机构正在争先恐后地调整其儿童保护方案，以应对这些系统性的破坏。一个主要挑战是确定对暴力侵害儿童行为的主流理解-主要是从人际关系的角度来界定-如何受到“缓慢暴力”概念的影响，这种暴力意味着对地球及其边缘民族的逐渐、无形的破坏（尼克松，2011年）。与此同时，要求援助非殖民化的呼声在国际发展部门越来越普遍，重点是拆除压迫、排斥和“白色救世主”心态的制度，这些制度已经渗透到国际发展组织的工作中。虽然这些呼吁在国际儿童保护界慢慢出现，但在儿童和青年被排斥的领域仍有许多辩论。儿童和年轻人越来越意识到他们存在的脆弱性，正在采取行动，通过抗议和社会运动来解决这个问题。然而，他们仍然感到沮丧的是，政府和民间社会都不愿意给他们一个席位，在改革破碎的国际援助sect.Aims & methodologyThe研究的总体目标是调查的影响，非殖民化的援助国际儿童保护规划的背景下，气候危机。该研究旨在探讨以下问题：如何是气候危机的时代，其特点是“缓慢的暴力”，在国际儿童保护规划的挑战殖民遗产？援助的非殖民化在多大程度上影响了国际儿童保护实践，特别是在儿童参与和气候行动方面？在气候紧急情况下，援助的非殖民化对未来的国际儿童保护规划和倡导有什么影响？借鉴我建议的第一个主管（霍华德2017）的工作，我的研究旨在建立一个多站点，多层次的国际儿童保护的图片。这将需要在“全球一级”、在总部和大型国际儿童保护机构的高级官员之间开展工作。我将用两个国家层面的案例研究来补充这一点，为理论和实践如何在全球北方和全球南方的不同案例中“向下”翻译提供一个窗口。实地工作将包括关键的线人访谈相结合;焦点小组讨论;人种学方法（参与者观察）;和参与性行动研究（PAR）。全球和国家层面的PAR进程将汇集国际非政府组织代表、当地气候活动家、儿童和青年。这项研究将是迄今为止最深入的研究，探讨在当前危机的背景下，非殖民化思维如何影响当前的国际儿童保护做法。通过在逆境中与国际非政府组织行动者、气候活动家和儿童一起使用PAR，这项研究将开启对系统性压迫和权力失衡的批判性反思。这有可能促进与儿童和青年分享权力的新模式，作为应对气候变化作为一种结构性暴力侵害儿童的新模式的基石。它有可能改变儿童保护研究所、联合国机构和捐助者的战略规划，为脆弱星球上儿童保护方案的未来提供新的见解。

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.