CEIEC Keynote: Beth Blue Swadner

Professor Swadner's participation in this conference has been supported by a grant from the Creswick Foundation in Victoria, Australia.

Bio

Beth Blue Swadener is professor and chairperson of Early Childhood Education and Professor of Policy Studies at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on social policy, professional development, dual language programs, and child and family issues in Africa. She has published eight books, including Does the Village Still Raise the Child?: A Collaborative Study of Changing Childrearing and Early Education in Kenya, Decolonizing Research in Cross-Cultural Context and Power and Voice in Research with Children and numerous articles and chapters. She is also active in a number of social justice and child advocacy projects including founding the Jirani Project, supporting AIDS orphans and street children, in Kenya.

Abstract

Keynote Title - Children's Rights, Voices and Allies: Stories from Kenya and the USA
The impacts of global capitalism and neoliberal policies on domestic infrastructures have been extensively analyzed in terms of economic policies and practices in cross-national contexts (Kushnick & Jennings, 1999; Stiglitz, 2002; Wolfe & Vandell, 2002), but the existential impact on children and youth in terms of their daily lives has not been adequately articulated. As economic and political oppression threaten the development of children and their rights to a healthy childhood, the issue of children's rights becomes fundamental for any transformative educational discourse (c.f. Amnesty International, 1998; Polakow, 2000; Soto & Swadener). This presentation draws from work in Kenya, Greece, and the U.S., focusing on children's rights, voices, and allies working for policies and practices that enhance children's well being and efficacy. Issues ranging from experiences of the girls in traditional cultures and street children in Kenya to Rom children in Greece and impacts of welfare reform and zero tolerance policies in the U.S. will be addressed, through a discussion of questions that are both philosophical and existential: children's rights juxtaposed against the social, political, and educational responsibilities of the state and the international community, including the following:

• What does it mean to reframe social policy in terms of children's rights?
• What are the impacts of neo-liberal/conservative policies and corporate globalization on the lives of children and families?
• How do children experience and perceive social exclusion and poverty, as well as inclusionary practices and access to services?
• What developmental damage is incurred by the violence of poverty and the socially toxic environments to which so many children and youth are relegated?
• How do children's political socialization and sense of agency and altruism assist them in navigating increasingly difficult circumstances?
• What are the impacts of HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and social exclusion on children and their families?
• What can we learn from the narratives of children at the margins of society in neo-liberal, post-welfare, and increasingly violent times?