Vietnam's children in a changing world / Rachel Burr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Burr, Rachel, author.

Series:

Rutgers series in childhood studies.

Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Child labor--Vietnam.

Child labor.

Child welfare--Vietnam.

Child welfare.

Children--Vietnam--Social conditions.

Children.

Children's rights--Vietnam.

Children's rights.

Humanitarian assistance--Vietnam.

Humanitarian assistance.

North and south.

Street children--Vietnam.

Street children.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (262 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Piscataway, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2006]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Like the majority of children living in the global South today, a large number of Vietnamese youths work to help support their families. International human rights organizations have focused on these children, seeking to bring their lives into line with an understanding of childhood that is generally accepted in the developed world. In this ethnographic study, Rachel Burr draws on her daily observations of working children in Hanoi and argues that these youngsters are misunderstood by the majority of agencies that seek to help them. Most aid programs embrace a model of childhood that is based on Western notions of individualism and bountiful resources. They further assume that this model is universally applicable even in cultures that advocate a collective sense of self and in countries that do not share the same economic advantages. Burr presents the voices and experiences of Vietnamese children in the streets, in a reform school, and in an orphanage to show that workable solutions have become lost within the rhetoric propagated by aid organizations. The reality of providing primary education or adequate healthcare for all children, for instance, does not stand a chance of being achieved until adequate resources are put in place. Yet, organizations preoccupied with the child rights agenda are failing to acknowledge the distorted global distribution of wealth in favor of Western nations. Offering a unique, firsthand look at the experiences of children in contemporary Vietnam, this book also provides a broad analysis of how internationally led human rights agendas are often received at the local level.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

One. What Is Childhood?

Two. Background to Vietnam

Three. Child Rights and the International Aid Community

Four. Why Children Work

Five. Children on the Streets

Six. Life in a Reform School

Seven. Childhood without Discrimination

Eight. Institutional Life and Children’s Coping Strategies

Nine. Children on the Global Margins?

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jun 2020)

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613815118

9781282272712

1282272713

9780813539898

0813539897

OCLC:

802695106