Children and Violence
Politics of Conflict in South Asia

Explores the conceptualisation of childhood in South Asia and comments on the shift from welfare to the protection of children's rights in the region.

Bina D'Costa (Edited by)

9781107117242, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 October 2016

340 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 3 cm, 0.63 kg

'Bina D'Costa's very important volume highlights that children are the most vulnerable group affected by conflicts and violence. Tracing through South Asia, this volume demonstrates that understanding children's experiences and recognising their rights should be central to any conversation about peace building and justice.' Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 2014

Children's diverse experiences during periods of conflict, post-conflict and peacetime reveal that their roles in society and political communities are complex. Based on this premise, this book suggests that understanding children's roles involves a critical analysis of where the child is situated within her/his family, within socio-political networks and within the state. Through examining various case studies in South Asia, a region that is marked as much by its homogeneity as by its immense diversity, the book observes that significant tensions exist between universal and local approaches to childhood. It reflects how the development of international and national discourses on children's rights and protection is relevant to children's everyday lives in situations of conflict.

List of tables and figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction: 'turtles can fly': vicarious terror and the child in South Asia Bina D'Costa
Part I. Shaping Childhood in South Asia: 1. Children and civil society in South Asia: subjects, participants, and political agents Duncan McDuie-Ra
2. 'We will work harder to be our own boss': children, vulnerability and structural violence Elora Halim Chowdhury
3. The kite runner: children, violence and the ethnic imaginary in Afghanistan Syed Sami Raza
Part II. Conflict and Violent Peace: 4. Migration, mobilisation and memory: the Sri Lankan Civil War in the lives of Tamil youth Amarnath Amarasingam and Tanuja Thurairajah
5. Politics of the orphans of war: 72 children's journey from the Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh to the suburbs of France Kabita Chakma and Glen Hill
6. Besieged childhood and broken dreams: failed promises of the State and Maoist movement in India Swati Parashar
7. Impacts of terrorism on children in Pakistan: a case study of displaced children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Zahid Shahab Ahmed
Part III. Rights, Needs and Protection: 8. Children affected by political violence in India: human rights, politics and protection Cecilia Jacob
9. Rethinking rights and needs: the everyday life of refugee children in the Borderland Kazi Fahmida Farzana
10. Pinning down a paper tiger: some practice observations on the monitoring and reporting mechanism in Nepal and Asian contexts Anita Knudsen and Michelle Godwin
Part IV. Reflections from Human Rights Advocates in the Region: 11. Being young in a time of conflict: Kashmiri youth and children – a reflection Parvez Imroz
12. The killing of youths in Sri Lanka: historical wrongs and the failure of the State Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena
13. The impact of war and violence on young minds Azra Nafees Yousafzai
Bibliography
Notes on contributors.

Subject Areas: Social issues [Children's / Teenage YXZ], Sociology: family & relationships [JHBK]