In April 2009, an inspiring international conference was held at
Bielefeld on the topic "Children and the Good Life: New Challenges for
Research on Children." The focus was on how we can define and measure a
"good life" for children growing up in the modern world. This tied in
with discussions on how convincing universalistic theories are, what
research on children can contribute, and how children themselves can be
integrated into the research process and debates on the "good life."
Discourses and the production of knowledge on the "good life" or
"well-being" require a guiding idea or a theoretical frame. This frame
can come from the feminist ethic of care or from the Human and
Children's Rights Convention, from the idea of welfare, or from the
Capability Approach.