Palgrave Critical Studies in Human Rights and Criminology

This edited collection articulates a future direction for research at the nexus of criminology and human rights by bringing together experts from different branches of criminology and criminal justice who, while they may be sceptical about certain aspects of human rights theory or practice, share an interest in realising many of the objectives set out in human rights instruments. It argues that critical criminological research has a significant role to play in identifying whether state and state-corporate power is exercised in ways that align with human rights law and principles, although the discipline has been slow to advance this agenda. This book covers a wide array of topics and seeks to develop critical human rights approaches within criminology and criminal justice.

Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com

In the data economy, childhood is a lucrative commodity. 

The digital technologies that offer incredible possibilities for children’s enrichment and empowerment also open avenues for their exploitation, denigration, criminalisation, and control. Coming to grips with this paradigm of technological benefits and harms requires a deepened understanding about how children's rights are engaged within a technocratic system that distributes costs and benefits unequally.

In the context of the altered flows of data and power in the digital age, Wendy O’Brien argues for a resurgence in the commitment to equal human dignity. Challenging narrow conceptualisations of online risks to children, the book identifies the need to confront the techno-social status quo that accepts harms against children as inevitable.

This book will be of interest to legal scholars, criminologists, policy makers and technologists with an interest in upholding children’s rights in the age of AI.