Terminating childhood: dissonance and synergy between global children’s rights norms and local discourses about the transition from childhood to adulthood in Ghana

Much has been written about the dissonance that exists between children’s rights standards and the reality of children’s lives in the Global South. What has received less attention, however, is the fact these laws are being implemented in countries affected by global social change and the legacy of historical developments. Therefore, this article seeks to move beyond a focus on the dissonance between global children’s rights norms and local realities and instead, explore the extent to which it is possible to identify both distinctions and commonalities in conceptualizations of childhood between local and global discourses with a focus on Ghana.