Quest for a better understanding of children and cultures Twenty-first century children ́s cultures, rights and education from an anthropological perspective

This paper examines and analyzes fundamental arguments regarding the credibility and valuation of the cultural rights of children, as part of a larger debate on the universality of human rights, and the framework of my approach is delimited by the following questions: (I) How do we research and illustrate the complex relation between children´s cultural rights and the cultural diversity of the world today? (II) What position and function does the – formal and informal – education of children have regarding the knowledge on and respect of cultures and humanity in the world today? And finally, (III) what can be done – on local, national and international levels – in order to improve the general understanding of children and human right issues across ethnic, religious and national borders? The main aim of the paper is, through the ethnographic lens, and with the children´s `own viewpoints´ in focus, to outline children´s core position in any reasoning about the value of humanity. The paper´s imperative is the potential dangers of e.g. cultural commercialization, cultural `racism´and `ethnocide´ in a globalized world characterized by economic and political competition, as well as xenophobia. Using empirical data from different parts of the world, the paper presents cases of violations of human rights – e.g. to use own language and rights to a (home)land – with focus on the negative consequences it has on children, hence also on their culture´s viability and future; this discussion leads to the domain of human rights ethics that is connected to the question of education and pedagogy. What to teach the children – and in which way? The paper, in summary, concludes that culture is a capital that empowers people so that they protect and support humanity.