" "The most important meaning of this Nobel award is the solemn recognition that the welfare of today's children is inseparably linked with the peace of tomorrow's world." _"

by --Henry R. Labouisse, Executive Director of UNICEF (1965-1979), in his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 for UNICEF.

• social science
• humanities
• history
• science

• Child Labor-history
• International trade--Moral and ethical aspects--Congresses
• Sweat shops--Developing countries--Congresses
• Social responsibility of business--Congresses

• child labor
• children's rights
• labor, exploitation
• United Nations
• Labor organizations
• sweatshops

• SIRS Knowledge Source http://sks.sirs.com.
• ProQuest Direct http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb/.
• Business Source Elite http://search.epnet.com.
• xrefer http://www.xrefer.com/entry/445572.

Organizations

Human Rights International Alliance Home Page

People of the World: Human Rights Network. 18 Jan 2001. Human Rights International Alliance. 22 May 2001

Human Rights International Alliance (HRIA) " is a non-profit alliance of individuals, parliamentarians and intellectuals dedicated to the protection and promotion of Civil Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as per the United Nations Charter International Bill of Rights. " Based in England, this group provides the latest reports on labor issues, including coverage of children's rights. Links to other sites and current status reports all over the world are available as well as ways to get involved in the cause. E-Mail: Humanrights@hria.com. Mail: Human Rights International Alliance, 153 Boundary Road, Woking, Surrey, GU21 5BT, England. Telephone: +44 (0) 1483 767654 Fax: +44 (0) 1483 721616

International Labor Organization Home Page. 2001. International Labor Organization. 22 May 2001. http://www.ilo.org.

The international Labor Organization (ILO) is sponsored and funded by the United Nations and as such, is a definitive site for an examination of child labor from an international perspective. The site is functional, though not flashy, and multiple links are made available for a variety of sites where further information can be located. Pull down menus allow the researcher to acquire information from a variety of sub categories including news, events, databases, links and information about the ILO headquarters. This site is a "must" for a first stop, as most of what you need in terms of the depth and breath of the problem supported by research and backed by statistics can be found here. E-Mail: ilo@ilo.org Mail: International Labour Office. 4, route des Morillons. CH 1211/Geneva 22. Switzerland. Telephone: +41.22.799.6111 Fax: +41.22.798.8685

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that at least 250 million children between the ages of five and 14 are working in developing countries. Approximately 120 million of these children work full time, and tens of millions of these work under exploitative and harmful conditions. According to the ILO, the majority of the world's working children (61 percent) are found in Asia, followed by Africa (32 percent) and Latin America and the Caribbean (seven percent)."

By The Sweat and Toil of Children. 1998. U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of International Labor Affairs. 22 May

This article provides factual information regarding the history behind the use of children as laborers. The resource is valuable in gaining an historical perspective on how the problem developed and also how reformers and organizations have been involved in addressing the problem. In addition, a beginning researcher would want to look up varied related search topics found within this article including the International Labor Organization (ILO) and UNICEF.

"Perkins, Francis Coralie." The Penguin Biographical Dictionary of Women. Markethouse Books Ltd.

An online search of child labor in this reference book reveals a varied history of reformers in this area including the above. Researchers wanting to become more knowledgeable about the women who have labored to correct the problem of abuses in child labor could use this source to locate women throughout the world and its history who have helped the cause. While limited to women, the resource is valuable in getting an insight into the history of the concern about child labor from past to present times. For young women in school, this would provide an interesting list of women who have worked for political, social and economic change and hopefully spur some interest in the opportunities available for women in this movement.

The editors are affiliated with a business oriented research group. The text examines the anti-sweatshop movement and then focuses on sweatshops in the 21st century. Fields accounts are given and also examinations of how some corporations are being successful with voluntary compliance. The resource is of value as it sheds light on a business perspective on the issue of child labor. A comprehensive table of contents enables the researcher to focus reading on those topics for which information is needed, thus proving a time saving factor.

The authors of this series of views on human rights come from a variety of cultures and perspectives. The issue of child labor is dealt with in five articles directly and indirectly in some of the other articles. This resource would be very valuable at gaining insight into some of the ways that our Western bias affects how we view the subject of child labor. This resource is particularly good to use because the viewpoints are so varied, and the articles are written in an accessible style. I have used the opposing viewpoint series in high school classes and the engender much good debate.

William Myers is a visiting scholar in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California at Davis and a former official for the ILO and UNICEF. The work contains a basic primer of information about child labor (historical perspectives, debates on the topic, and potential for clashes of cultural views when looking at the topic. The author cites 44 different sources in the writing of this extensive article. There are no graphs or charts but UNICEF and the ILO give extensive statistics from studies. Of all the sources so far, this is the most balanced. The research is evident and extensive and the author’s bias not apparent in the work. The language of the piece is accessible but not "loaded" and an attempt is made to cover a variety of perspectives on the issue. In addition, the extensive bibliography would lend itself to further exploration for information. I would feel very confident using this as a source not only for the information itself, but because the author’s credentials seem most professional.

S.L. Bachman is a visiting scholar and journalist at Stanford University’s Asia/Pacific Research Center who has published in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States and Asia. The bibliography and references for her article is extensive and varied and includes both Western and Asian perspectives. The article attempts to present a balanced view of child labor abuses and draws the conclusion that while child labor accounts for a very small percentage of the global economy, the abuses are unacceptable and need to be dealt with. She believes that perceptions about child labor, while often inaccurate, do not change the perception is a problem for international business that must be dealt with head on.

Beatrice Newberry is a freelance journalist specializing in labor and gender issues. There is no bibliography for the article but several international organizations are cited in the text. Her premise is that banning child labor does not tackle the root problems of poverty that underlay child labor practices. She believes that this is a message that non-governmental agencies may not want to hear. She believes that inequalities in the larger global system are what need to be addressed, and that children are only part of that complex problem. This work would be helpful because it tackles some of the stereotypical ideas about child labor using examples from current child labor practices worldwide.

Human Rights Violations: From Discrimination to Genocide.

Human rights, specifically the rights of children, is the focus of this web page, a module that is prepared and maintained by the University of California at Berkeley International Studies Department. The site contains modules that define human, civil and children's rights, a section on useful terms for understanding the issues, an extensive bibliography for further research, an image gallery and case studies. Additionally, a module is given that lists organizations affiliated with this issue. There is a site manager that can be contacted through e-mail and a list of organization that can be contacted for further information available at this site.

Unicef: Special Session on Children. 6 June 2001. United Nations. 22 May 2001. http://unicef.org.

The state of the world’s children is the focus of this web page. The point of view of the article is to urge an end to hazardous and exploitative child labor practices and to urge support of education. The links provide up to date new stories with accounts of current situations and attempts at helping children. Facts sheets to provide statistics are also available as well as a variety of web site links to other pages dealing with the issues of child labor.

Derechos Human Rights Links: Child Labor. Derechos. 22 May 2001 http://www.derechos.net/links/issues/labor.html.

I included this page as it is contains a wealth of resources specific to the topic. These links are all related to the issue of child labor and are available in Spanish as well as English. This is important because we are expected to have over 50% of our population in the United States speaking Spanish as their first language. Researchers would be able to access a variety of sites from a single page, including most of the government sites mentioned earlier, saving valuable time.

This video examines human rights from a global perspective using current world situations including child labor in Thailand and East Timor. The commentators range from the ultra conservative Newt Gingrich to the ultra liberal Ralph Nader, suggesting that the film examines a wide range of perspectives. This source would be good general information background material on the clash between economic globalization and advocacy for human rights.

By The Sweat and Toil of Children. 1998. U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of

This document, created and published by the International Child Labor Program, which operates under the auspices of the Department of Labor, Bureau of International Affairs, is rich in statistical information and foundational information for the study of the complex issues of child labor. Though it is an exhaustive work, it is accessible in terms of complexity of reading level and breath of coverage. This would be an excellent starting place for gathering information on child labor conditions worldwide and the concerns from the perspectives of a global agency.

In the initial phase of research, becoming familiar with the different types of information available and how to access them was essential. Because I was inexperienced in using digital sources and the world wide web, I focused much of my learning time in those resources. One familiarity was gained, learning the idiosyncrasies of the various search engines was the next hurdle. For example, keyword searches brought up totally different kinds of information in the different search engines. In one "child labor" brought up valuable information, in another, it was a hodge podge of sources. Also, I discovered that while "human rights" was an issue under which "child labor" fell, to search under human rights provided (in some cases) almost a million hits. So, learning to use effective keyword searches was the first most important learned step in the digital research process.

The web searches provided excellent research sources for this topic. A plethora of government sites, which provide current research from UNICEF, was available, as well as work from the International Labor Organization, another government affiliated source. The University of California at Berkeley had an entire site dedicated to international studies of which child labor is a module. Every organization that is concerned about the welfare of children, it seems, has a web site devoted not only to their own particular cause but also with a wealth of links to other pages and sites that provide valuable information.

A search of periodicals provided documents valuable for varied perspectives on the complexities of the issue. Numerous "anonymous" articles appear in magazines dedicated to human rights issue, which, while of little scholarly value do much to help the researcher understand how passions get inflamed on this issue. Business periodicals contain articles from an economic viewpoint and helped me see that international business does understand the nature of the problem and are concerned in more than just a dollar and sense way about the working conditions for women and children in developing and undeveloped countries. Scholarly journals were replete with articles detailing the problems that occur when we, as Westerners, view child labor from an ethnocentric viewpoint…that we may actually be causing more poverty and problems in our inability to view cultures from their own perspectives. So convincing were many of these arguments that I began to change my own view of child labor practices.

Overall, the Internet was a valuable source of information for this topic. If a researcher is confined to the four walls of the local library, their research may be limited to a relatively small number of texts or periodicals available. Having the Internet available for research, if one understand HOW to use that information and how to effectively locate it, makes for better, more balanced research. Critical to the process, however, is a systematic way to evaluate sources. First of all, going into the VIEW SOURCE pull down menu provides valuable information about the intent of the author of the site and explains how the link was made to the topic. Then, being able to look at the credentials of the writer adds to a researcher's ability to determine the validity of the information. Lastly, being able to access full text articles from a seemingly limitless source of periodicals was a rich find for research. Looking at any issue from a variety of perspectives can only improve critical thinking, the ultimate goal of any researcher.

Is child labor an international evil? Through my research on the topic, I would have to say it is an international concern that is being addressed by both government and non-government agencies. Is the "West" an evil giant, full of corporations exploiting the poor and powerless in other nations? To some degree perhaps, but overall, there seems to be awareness in the international business community that protections need to be afforded to all workers. Are children all over the world suffering physical and emotional harm and losing future opportunities because of substandard working conditions? Undeniably, yes. Does this mean that no child should ever work? Perhaps before answering that question, research suggests all "Westerners" need to become better informed about the cultures of the countries that utilize child labor and work towards making healthier working conditions, not outlawing child labor all together. Is there much misunderstanding on the depth and breath of the issue? Yes, on all sides, but making use of the excellent resources available through the web can do much toward informing concerned citizens about the uses and abuses on child labor in a global marketplace.

Please send comments to Charlotte Seawell

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