A Will of Their Own - Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Working Children (Electronic book text)

Children's work is currently on the increase all over the world in processes closely linked to globalisation. This book shows how children's work can take on widely differing forms; and how it can both harm and benefit children. Differing in approach from most other work in the field, it endeavours to understand working children from their own perspective. Particular attention is paid to the children's experiences and hopes, especially their attempts to find a public voice and fight together against exploitation and discrimination. In this way, the book shows that children frequently see and evaluate their work differently from adults, and that measures directed against children's work are not always in the interests of the children.The author puts forward a plea to pursue a new, "subject-oriented" approach in dealing with children's work, and to take account of socio-cultural contexts, both in theory and practice.