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LAW BOOK REVIEW

"Child labour is not all about human rights"

Dr. Ridwanul Hoque
CHILD labour in its differing manifestations exists in every society. It is indeed a complex phenomenon that is comprised of social, economic, cultural, ideological and political factors. Yet, the dominant trend among global actors is to universalise the problem of child labour and prescribe its elimination through legal sanctions. Undoubtedly, child labour entails human rights implications. Paradoxically, however, for most working children, the choice is often not so straightforward as many of them work in response to compulsions beyond their control.
In the domain of 'problems' of child labour, therefore, there is no quick fix and no one-size-fits-all solution. These problems vary from society to society, although the concerns throughout the world for justice for the working children have some commonality. At the core of the discourse on child labour and development is the question of whether we should allow children in work. When many will conditionally concede to certain work by children, another issue that perplex everyone concerned is how to define childhood.
The book under review is a society-specific study of child labour with particular reference to girl children's labour in Bangladesh. The book poses a challenge to the efficacy of legal tools, and economic approaches and assumptions that are often resorted to in an attempt to 'eliminate' the child labour. As the author argues, the universalised assumptions that child workers are indeed hapless victims and that their release from work would give them a happy life essentially refute that working children are in effect 'capable social actors and dynamic agents for change'.
The author does not belong to the eliminationists' camp. Rather, she is a realist and protectionist. Her argument is that child labour is not going to be 'eliminated' altogether form society like ours, in which not only the poverty-reason but also other factors such as patriarchy, agro-based livelihood pattern, ideologies, and even the culture of violence against children (girl children in particular) may be held responsible for sustaining child labour. These forces along with two societal factors - the child's subordination in society and family and, in case of the girl child, 'sex' - often lead to exploitation of working children. The author rightly thinks that, not all work is bad for children and that it is more realistic and important to protect working children. The author argues that, child labour is not all about human rights; it also encompasses gender, culture and monetary considerations that constitute an equally significant force that affect working children in varying degrees (at p. xi).
In retrospect, one might recall that, following the global pressure and reformist call from the market force, child labour in garments factories in Bangladesh had gradually phased out. The author is cautious about globalised approaches to child labour which, in her opinion, undermined the agency and resilience of the girl children working in those factories. This 'acclaimed' approach threw into oblivion the issue of child labour in the informal sector that hosts the majority of child workers in Bangladesh.
In this short space, it is quite impossible to do justice to the present book which presents a superb, thoughtful analysis of the issue of child labour from the perspectives of gender, culture, economics and human rights. As one reads the book, one would be able to capture the dynamics of child labour and be refreshed, in particular, with the author's exploration of the gender factor within the child labour regime. For example, she underlines the significance of the gender-prejudiced use of the terms 'labour' and 'work'. For the author, consider- ation of activities by girls as 'work' in the private sphere for nominal or no wages and those by boys in public places as 'labour' for relatively higher wages has led to a treatment in international legislation of labour by male children in exclusion of the girl child labour.
The book is divided into 7 chapters. Following the introductory chapter, in which the author presents her central argument, the second chapter explores the status of girl children in the socio-cultural setting of Bangladesh. The reader will find here the so-called sexist discourse with regard to the girl children in Bangladesh and in the context of reli- gious, and socio-cultural beliefs, institutions, and, also, superstitions. Specifically, the institution of marriage and the fact of women's subjugation in the family and society are shown as important factors in understanding the nuances of child labour.
The third chapter examines the economic agency of the working children and their role as change-makers. In this chapter, it is also shown that the gender factor and adult sexual division of labour have significant impact on the economy of child labour generally. Chapter 4 sets the ground for empiricism for the author's thesis, in which child labour in the Bangladeshi garment industry has been taken up as a case study. The author here reports that, the girl children who worked in the garment industry to evade abject poverty or to supplement family income knew nothing about (and indeed refuted) the law that prohibited them to work at the early age. The children actually preferred to work in the factories as it freed them from regressive socio-cultural practices. Chapter 5 is an analysis of policies and laws domestic, regional, and international concerning child labour. In Chapter 6, the author seeks to reconcile children's human rights and culture and discusses the constraints that might impede the desired reconciliation. The argument made here is that, the protection of working children must go beyond simply incorporating the human rights imperatives within the process, and should take into consideration the diverse patterns of childhood and the children's evolving capacities. Chapter 7 is the concluding chapter that not only projects a useful summation of the issues covered in the book but also proposes future directions which policy and lawmakers may consider taking in their attempt to address the problem of child labour. The book closes by emphasising more research in the field as well as by urging for promoting quality education, ensuring children's participation in decision-making, enhancing institutional capacity and for integrating the legal measures into development imperatives.
I have no major criticisms against the book. I would, however, like to say that, given that the book is written in the Bangladeshi context, it would have been better if the domestic legal regime was discussed in one distinct chapter rather than mixing it with international legal regimes. It would also be befitting had the author further detailed the failings of the existing Bangladeshi laws that are covered in the book.
I would conclude by congratulating the author for her distinctive work. The book is quite non-traditional and constitutes a splendid contribution to the existing literature on child labour. The book, with a wealth of references for the future researchers, would undoubtedly be a valuable resource for everyone interested in human rights, labour standards and gender studies.
The reviewer is Associate Professor at the Department of Law, University of Dhaka.