"This book begins with the recognition that continued practical denial of the human rights of children globally is due to the absence of any theoretical foundation justifying their reality. The goal of this book is to provide that foundation. Such a foundation departs from the eighteenth-century rationalist justification for human rights generally, and provides a new conceptualization for all human rights that embraces the facts of human vulnerability and capacity for promising as the real basis for rights. As such, children also qualify for full human rights, including those to a safe environment, to dignity, and to full participation as citizens, including voting rights. The theoretical foundation of children's human rights expands upon the "participation" rights included in the 1990 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, full recognition of children's alters the composition and focus human rights to include the rights of future generations, group rights, and the pre-eminence of social and economic rights over civil and political rights"--