Toward the end of the nineteenth century, legal and sociopolitical sectors began to view children as a social group of their own, and European countries passed laws for the protection of children and introduced compulsory school attendance. This paper asserts that measures like these led to a far-reaching new definition of childhood on a…

Analyzes the history of public concern regarding children's rights in the 20th century. Details the political process leading to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the ratification of the Convention, and its political effects, and presents hypotheses regarding determinants of the Convention's worldwide impact. Notes areas where…