A Critical Analysis of International Political Economy for the Rights of Destitute Children in Street Situations in Pakistan

Abstract

Children' rights have attracted an unprecedented level of attention, specifically since the
promulgation and rapid ratification of the 1989, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC). However, destitute children who work and/ or live in street situations continue to
experience deprivations and social exclusion. This paper critically examines an exemplary case of
“children in street 'situations” in the Pakistani context. Critical discourse analysis is employed to
examine how 'children's rights and deprivations are framed in dominant debates. The framing of
children's rights and deprivations in academic papers and non-academic reports as well as
literature in “grey area” is examined to develop a nuanced analysis. The dominant rights-based
approaches developed to address the problems of children in street situations provide temporary
relief to some through the provision of basic welfare services. Nevertheless, these rights-based
responses are insufficient given the intensity and complexity of the problem. Rights discourses
must take into account the broader structural relations of political economy through which the
conditions of deprivation are constituted and maintained. This paper approaches the argument
about children's exploitation from a less studied but much promising international political
economy perspective.