While global justice is a hot topic in political philosophy, the place of children and children as a particular group of agents has been largely ignored. This book explores global justice for children from the perspective of the capability approach. The capability approach provides a fruitful normative foundation for exploring the issue of global justice for children. To spell this out, it is necessary to address the questions of the currency of justice, its principles, and the allocation of responsibility, and to show that all children have a moral claim to the capabilities and functionings they require for a sufficiently good life. The first chapters are devoted to the status of children in political philosophy and to methodological considerations. The next chapters then argue that developing capabilities and functionings constitute the appropriate currency of global justice. The discussion then turns to the question of the principle of global justice, advocating a sufficiency principle that recognizes different thresholds in order to secure a sufficiently good life for all children. Finally, the concluding chapters address the question of responsibility for justice. Here, the book develops a theory of differentiated responsibility, which distributes responsibilities among various agents. Global Justice for Children will be of interest to researchers and students working in social and political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of childhood and development studies.

This book deals with the question of what is a good life for children. It argues that a good childhood is one in which: a child is sufficiently provided with all the goods it needs to develop into an autonomous person a child is sufficiently provided with the goods it needs for its well-being sufficient space is given to a child ́s will, wishes, concerns and projects The book not only develops a new theoretical conception of a good childhood and defends it against objections, it also engages with the problem how a good childhood can be realized in the context of families as well as the institutions of liberal states. In so doing it provides numerous insights into central themes and key issues of the philosophy of childhood. What is a Good Childhood? is essential reading for all scholars and researchers of ethics, social and political philosophy and philosophy education, especially those focusing on the philosophy of childhood.

This book is open access under a CCBY license. This book investigates child poverty from a philosophical perspective. It identifies the injustices of child poverty, relates them to the well-being of children, and discusses who has a moral responsibility to secure social justice for children.

This book addresses the endangerment of children’s bodies in affluent societies. Bodily integrity is an important part of a child’s physical and mental well-being, but it can also be violated through various threats during childhood; not only affecting physical health but also causing mental damage and leading to distortions in the development of the self. The authors give an account of three areas, which present different serious dangers: (1) body and eating, (2) body and sexuality, and (3) body and violence. Through an in-depth examination of the available theoretical and empirical knowledge, as well as a thorough ethical analysis, the central injustices in the mentioned areas are identified and the agents with responsibilities towards children displayed. The authors conclude by providing invaluable insight into the necessity of an ethical basis for policies to safeguard children and their bodies.

This book offers a broad and diverse reflection of the ways in which child poverty could be conceptualised, and the ways in which it is intertwined with childhood as a specific social condition. Furthermore, the responsibilities towards children and the possible mechanisms required for dealing with this condition will be analysed and clarified. This is the first volume on philosophy and child poverty. Despite the increasing number of publications on poverty, the particular phenomenon of poverty during childhood has not received much philosophical attention. This is surprising, given the severity and depth of child poverty around the globe. This volume brings together various philosophical approaches and how they understand and tackle child poverty. This is an important addition to the philosophical literature, which is also of wider interest to scholars working in the social sciences and with an interest in child poverty.

This book brings together philosophical, social-theoretical and empirically oriented contributions on the philosophical and socio-theoretical debate on migration and integration, using the instruments of recognition as a normative and social-scientific category. Furthermore, the theoretical and practical implications of recognition theory are reflected through the case of migration. Migration movements, refugees and the associated tensions are phenomena that have become the focus of scientific, political and public debate in recent years. Migrants, in particular refugees, face many injustices and are especially vulnerable, but the right-wing political discourse presents them as threats to social order and stability. This book shows what a critical theory of recognition can contribute to the debate. The book is suitable for researchers in philosophy, social theory and migration research. "A profound examination of how states and societies struggle to recognize migrants as fellow human beings in all their fullness. The contributions are exceptional for combining astute philosophy and social theory with a discussion of actual politics and real lives." Dr. Hugo Slim (Senior Research Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and formerly Head of Policy at the International Committee of the Red Cross) "This impressive and timely volume offers an innovative way of understanding the issues of migration and integration by using a critical theory of recognition. Recognition theory has rich potential for effectively responding to the issues of autonomy, identity, integration, and empowerment that are at the core of the current public debates on mass migration, displacement, and the refugee crisis. By examining the normative and policy implications of recognition as they apply to migration, the book offers a pathbreaking look at the human dimension of the debate." Dr. Helle Porsdam (Professor of Law and Humanities and UNESCO Chair in Cultural Rights University of Copenhagen).

Was schulden wir armen Kindern hier bei uns? Der Philosoph und Armutsforscher Gottfried Schweiger gibt in seinem Essay eine Antwort auf diese Frage. Das Leben und Aufwachsen in Armut ist ungerecht, weil es ein schlechtes Leben ist, weil es zu sozialer Ungleichheit und Ausgrenzung führt und weil Kinder für ihre Lebenschancen nicht verantwortlich sein können. Kinderarmut bedeutet Machtlosigkeit und Demütigung. Der fünfte Band der ›Kritischen Reflexionen‹ ist ein starkes Plädoyer dafür, dass nicht nur der Staat, sondern wir alle als Bürger*innen eine politisch-moralische Verantwortung haben, Kinderarmut abzuschaffen und Kindern in Armut zu helfen. Insbesondere sind wir dazu aufgerufen, kollektiv daran mitzuwirken, die sozialen, politischen und ökonomischen Strukturen so zu verändern, dass die Ursachen und Folgen von Kinderarmut effektiv beseitigt werden. Es geht um gerechte Verteilung und Umverteilung.

Gottfried Schweiger beobachtet in Deutschland und Österreich ein besorgniserregendes, paradoxes Phänomen: Auf der einen Seite wird Kinderarmut ignoriert und heruntergespielt, auf der anderen Seite wird Mitleid mit Kindern in armen Verhältnissen vorgeschützt, um vor allem politische Maßnahmen zu rechtfertigen, die die Situation dieser Kinder meist noch verschlechtern. Damit will sich der Soziologe nicht mehr abfinden und fordert in seinem Beitrag in Kursbuch 201 leidenschaftlich, dass Deutschland und Österreich endlich ihre Ressourcen nutzen – denn davon gibt es ausreichend –, um Kinderarmut ein Ende zu bereiten. Das Recht auf ein angenehmes, würdevolles Leben, das Kindern im Grundgesetz versprochen wird, muss endlich sichergestellt werden. Ansonsten verhilft sich die Gesellschaft zu nichts anderem als einer ewig perpetuierenden sozialen Ungleichheit.

Jedes Kind verdient eine gute Kindheit, keine Frage. Aber was ist eigentlich unter einer guten Kindheit zu verstehen? Der Band diskutiert Antworten aus unterschiedlichen Sichtweisen auf die Geschichte und den moralischen Status von Kindheit. Er rekonstruiert Kernelemente einer guten Kindheit wie ausreichend vorhandene materielle Güter, Beziehungsgüter oder Bildungsgüter und erläutert die Rolle von Autonomie als Meta-Gut im Kontext von familiärer und öffentlicher Erziehung.

Dieses Buch versammelt Essays zur Philosophie der Kindheit. Worin besteht eine gerechte Gesellschaft für Kinder? Sind Kinder besonders verletzbar? Was schulden wir minderjährigen Flüchtlingen oder Kindern in Armut? Was ist eine gute Jugend? Die Essays in diesem Buch stellen und beantworten diese Fragen aus Sicht einer Ethik der Kindheit.