Weaving Emancipatory Methodologies with Rights-based and Decolonial Threads? Critical reflections for participatory research with children

In the field of international development, the broad consensus amongst international NGOs about the meanings and methodologies covered under the umbrella term “child participation” overshadow ongoing debates in the field of critical childhood studies about rights-based approaches to child participation. In parallel, the importance of decolonial paradigms is increasingly acknowledged as being necessary dismantle the colonial and liberal worldviews that dominate child-focused theory and practice in international development and humanitarianism. This article seeks to explore the tensions in how child participation is understood and practiced in international development, particularly by international NGOs, and to inquire about the questions that emerge at the encounter between decolonial theory and rights-based child participation discourse. It presents critical analysis of key literature on participatory research in international development in general and child participation in particular, alongside auto-ethnographic reflections that highlight the experiences of co-authors who have taken part in child participation research and advocacy initiatives with international NGOs. The article concludes with reflections that invite a reimagining of child participatory practice in international development through a decolonial, pluriversal lens.