Child-rearing with minimal domination: a republican account

Abstract

Parenting involves an extraordinary degree of power over children. Republicans are concerned about domination, which, on one view, is the holding of power that fails to track the interests of those over whom it is exercised. On this account, parenting as we know it is dominating due to the low standards necessary for acquiring and retaining parental rights and the extent of parental power. Domination cannot be fully eliminated from child-rearing without unacceptable loss of value. Most likely, republicanism requires that we minimise children’s domination. I examine alternative models of child-rearing that are immune to republican criticism.

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Research for this article has been funded by the Ramon y Cajal Program of the Spanish Government [project RYC2014-15816] and from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme [Grant Agreement Number: 648610].