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Learning from Ridhima Pandey : A Childist Ethics of Care for a Postpaternalist Era

Boje Mortensen, Therese LU (2025) In International Journal of Children's Rights 33(3). p.594-616
Abstract
When children exercise their right to political participation through climate activism and litigation, they demonstrate that an ethics of care is a core component of the postpaternalist era. Children’s ethics of care, however, is not only about care toward their immediate human relations, but also toward other species, the environment they live in and generations to come. They thereby develop the traditional feminist ethics of care into a childist version which takes seriously children’s experiences. While children themselves – as we speak – are performing a childist ethics of care, it is not yet theoretically formulated, and that is what the present article does. To exemplify, the article analyses nine-year-old Ridhima Pandey’s petition... (More)
When children exercise their right to political participation through climate activism and litigation, they demonstrate that an ethics of care is a core component of the postpaternalist era. Children’s ethics of care, however, is not only about care toward their immediate human relations, but also toward other species, the environment they live in and generations to come. They thereby develop the traditional feminist ethics of care into a childist version which takes seriously children’s experiences. While children themselves – as we speak – are performing a childist ethics of care, it is not yet theoretically formulated, and that is what the present article does. To exemplify, the article analyses nine-year-old Ridhima Pandey’s petition to India’s National Green Tribunal. The petition both demonstrates the components of a childist ethics of care in the context of the climate crisis, and real-life challenges and hopes for children who exercise rights within adultist structures. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Child rights, Ethics of care, Childism, Postpaternalism, Climate litigation
in
International Journal of Children's Rights
volume
33
issue
3
pages
23 pages
publisher
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
ISSN
1571-8182
DOI
10.1163/15718182-33030007
project
Children's right to political participation: the case of rights-based climate activism in India
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0d8c5b60-dbc1-484d-9c2b-dd2a73e8513e
date added to LUP
2025-09-30 20:10:25
date last changed
2025-10-15 13:42:39
@article{0d8c5b60-dbc1-484d-9c2b-dd2a73e8513e,
  abstract     = {{When children exercise their right to political participation through climate activism and litigation, they demonstrate that an ethics of care is a core component of the postpaternalist era. Children’s ethics of care, however, is not only about care toward their immediate human relations, but also toward other species, the environment they live in and generations to come. They thereby develop the traditional feminist ethics of care into a childist version which takes seriously children’s experiences. While children themselves – as we speak – are performing a childist ethics of care, it is not yet theoretically formulated, and that is what the present article does. To exemplify, the article analyses nine-year-old Ridhima Pandey’s petition to India’s National Green Tribunal. The petition both demonstrates the components of a childist ethics of care in the context of the climate crisis, and real-life challenges and hopes for children who exercise rights within adultist structures.}},
  author       = {{Boje Mortensen, Therese}},
  issn         = {{1571-8182}},
  keywords     = {{Child rights; Ethics of care; Childism; Postpaternalism; Climate litigation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{594--616}},
  publisher    = {{Martinus Nijhoff Publishers}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Children's Rights}},
  title        = {{Learning from Ridhima Pandey : A Childist Ethics of Care for a Postpaternalist Era}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15718182-33030007}},
  doi          = {{10.1163/15718182-33030007}},
  volume       = {{33}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}