Epilogue

Globalisation, defined on an axis of diffusion and change, is economically based but also has social, cultural and political aspects. Globalisation has had enormous effects on the lives of people especially in the last century. However, children are the most affected group by the effects of globalisation not only because they are the most vulnerable group of people but also child survival and full development are accepted as moral imperatives by almost all countries in the world. The impact of globalisation on children varies depending on factors such as geography, global markets, domestic and international policies, family conditions, socio-economic factors and so on.

Around three billion children live in the world, whose population is approaching eight billion. These three billion children, like many other issues on the agenda of the rapidly globalising world, are often trivialised and ignored. In the work of international organisations and institutions such as UNICEF, it is stated that 600 million children live below the poverty line, and approximately 250 million children work as child labourers. This number does not even include children working in domestic labour, especially in rural areas. This picture is a clear indication that billions of children have begun to carry the burden of this huge world in various forms from an early age. While millions of children offer added value with their tiny hands in the global wealth and production reaching gigantic proportions, millions of children are struggling to survive with poverty and hunger, and millions of children die in the ongoing armed conflicts and terrorist acts in various parts of the world.

The fact that children are one of the weakest sections of society and face such problems because of this situation also leads to the need for their protection and their rights to be secured. Children's rights are not just an area to be protected and strengthened by government initiatives. The responsibility in this matter concerns all sections of society including researchers. Children's rights is a scientific field that requires a multidimensional approach to all mentioned issues and current issues and therefore requires an interdisciplinary perspective. It seems that childhood and children's rights studies require the formation of a kind of interdisciplinary field that encompasses an increasing number of disciplines such as psychology, geography, history, philosophy, theology, education, social law and literature. However, sociological, anthropological, literary and historical studies on childhood and children's rights are limited.

The aim of this book is to discuss children's rights and their place in the social order, economic, humanitarian and political dimensions in the face of sometimes brutal global conditions. This book will discuss how social solidarist politics, strengthening family ties can help improve children's condition. All the nations in the world are responsible for children's well-being within collectivist social systems. Studies on children's rights and well-being can provide humane and sustainable solutions for children in the face of the challenging environment and global conditions.

Especially in the last century, economic globalisation actively pursued by national and international policy makers through the deregulation of the domestic economy, internalization of toys, games, entertainment and consumption patterns, rapid technological advances and increasing regional wars and terrorism constitute the main areas where children are open to the effects of globalisation. Accordingly, in this book, children's labour, digital technologies and children under the threat of war and terror and the rights of children in the era of globalization constitute the main chapters. The first part of the book comprises papers focusing on children and globalisation in general. The first paper serves as an introductory chapter and argues that both the concept of childhood and also conception of humanity changed with globalisation since the emergence of capitalism in the 1800s. It is possible to examine this change by looking at three pillars: (1) changing patterns of play, (2) child labour and (3) violence against the child.

This book comprises of 23 chapters and sends the message that children and children's rights are within the scope of every discipline and should be taken into consideration in terms of every discipline. Disciplines such as diplomacy, economy, art, sociology, education, technology, public administration, security, political science and international relations, which are directly interested in childhood and children's rights, or conversely, have not shown much interest in this field, have also included their perspectives. Each chapter tries to shed light on the problem in terms of its own discipline. These views constitute the different aspect of this book. It is the product of a multidisciplinary study that will contribute to scientists and readers who research on childhood, children's lifestyles in global conditions and the rights of the child that have been bestowed upon it, but which can often be violated. More importantly, the book will help develop holistic solutions to problems in the field by collaborating the perspectives and knowledge of different disciplines.

This collective work is an important source of reference in determining the vision of today's children, who are tomorrow's adults, in tomorrow's global world; improving their conditions and developing the awareness of living in peace with nature. These chapters show more than just the place and importance of the children in the adult world and the expectations and hopes of the three billion children; they show how and under what conditions the future of adults is entrusted to children.