President Barack Obama recently spoke about the need to reach out to young people in the criminal justice system as 'future citizens'. But should children be seen as 'future citizens', or should we be concerned about their present existence? Watch Dr. Laura King (University of Leeds) discuss these issues in the video below, in advance of a workshop on 3 September at King’s College London. This workshop will consider how and why children have been represented and mobilised for political purposes, past and present, bringing together historians, campaigners and policy makers.
Children represent innocence, vulnerability and potential. Because of that, adults portray them for a variety of ends: to sell products for companies, to bring in donations for charities, to attract votes, and shape society by absorbing norms and values. Does this matter, and if so how? What can be learnt today from historical research into the use of children as symbols of the future? Dr King discusses the 3 September workshop at King’s College London.
The event is part of Agents of Future Promise, an AHRC-funded project that seeks to understand the causes and consequences of the ideological use of children in culture and politics in Britain and France, 1880-1950. Save the Children and War Child are partners in the project, with historians Dr Laura King (Leeds), Dr Vicky Crewe (Cardiff) and Dr Lindsey Dodd (Huddersfield).
See the workshop programme.
Booking is available through the King's e-store.
H&P is based at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, University of London.
We are the only project in the UK providing access to an international network of more than 500 historians with a broad range of expertise. H&P offers a range of resources for historians, policy makers and journalists.
