Guest editors: 

Irene Rizzini (PUC-Rio/DSS/CIESPI, Brazil) 

Tara Collins (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada) 

Danielle Strickland (ITESO, Mexico) 

Mariana Menezes Neumann (CIESPI/PUC-Rio, Brazil)

Across time and spaces, colonial powers have sought to extend their influence politically, economically, and culturally around the world. Not simply a historical phenomenon, colonialism continues to manifest itself within and across countries and generations. Thus, children and young people should not be forgotten as we contemplate and act upon the impacts of colonialism in families, communities, and broader geographies.

This special issue aims to contribute to decolonizing research about childhood and children’s rights and accentuate the value of creative, participatory methodologies to explore problems faced by young people. It is the result of an initiative from the Conceptual Interconnections Working Group of the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP). The objective is to further academic and practitioner discussions, presenting interdisciplinary approaches and understandings based on decolonial research projects and practices with children and youth from different countries and contexts. Thus, the collection of texts of this issue reflects the expertise of the ICCRP Working Group’s multigenerational members and other invited specialists in the field.

It includes ten articles by academics and social activists from various countries, many of which stem from personal experiences using decolonial approaches in research projects with children and young people. It also includes a section with eight testimonials from various countries on how and why each author became interested in decoloniality.

In accordance with the objectives of the ICCRP, we believe that the inter- and transdisciplinary approaches included in this issue will contribute to diverse conceptualizations of child research through a decolonial lens.

We would like to thank the authors for their dedication and extend our special gratitude to the editor in chief Dr. Virginia Caputo, associate professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, and director of the Landon Pearson Centre for the Study of Childhood and Children's Rights (Canada), for her commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication. To the Open Access Journal System at McOdrum Library at Carleton University for the democratization of knowledge free of cost, for Emma Zwegers, for her tireless work as copyeditor and for Ximena De la Mora for visually translating the ideas and concepts expressed in the cover, conveying the notion of alternative approaches to children’s rights through decolonial lenses. 

Rizzini, Collins, Strickland & Menezes Neumann (editors). Children’s Rights and Decolonial Perspectives: Challenging dominant modes of knowledge production. Canadian Journal of Children's Rights, 2025, Vol. 12(1): DOI: 10.22215/cjcr.v12i1  

Access the journal here:  

https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/cjcr/issue/view/312