Unexpected allies: Expanding the theoretical toolbox of the children's rights sociologist

Abstract

Today, children’s rights studies face several interrelated challenges in terms of theorizing, critical posture and reflexivity. This chapter aims to contribute to the reflections about these issues by drawing upon contemporary debates within French sociology, opposing Bourdieu’s critical sociology and the pragmatic sociologies of Boltanski and Latour. Building upon the findings of an ethnographic enquiry into the work of child and youth participation specialists in French-speaking Switzerland, it explores the possibilities of mobilizing these partially conflicting approaches within participation research. The chapter shows that the combination of critical and pragmatic resources offers useful complementary analytical insights into participation practices. The theoretical tensions between these distinct postures may also contribute effectively to clarifying the role of critique and reflexivity within children’s rights studies.