“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world”.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Welcome to Small Places.
Small Places is a newsletter on parenting, education, children’s rights, and dismantling adultism - the systemic discrimination children face based on their age - in every aspect of children’s lives.
The writing you’ll find in Small Places is rooted in the belief that children are already full people here and now, and actively pushes back on the narrative that children’s value lies in their future adult selves. It celebrates children as capable, curious, knowledgeable, and rad.
I’m so glad to have you here.
How we roll
Small Places goes out sporadically with a mix of essays, shorter writing, interviews, and book reviews. There is also a sometimes a podcast.
Why pay to support to Small Places?
Paid subscribers receive:
Subscriber only posts
Full access to the archive (older posts are automatically paywalled after a month).
If you’re a subscriber and there are things you’d love to see or topics you’d like me to cover, just drop me an email at eloiserickman@substack.com.
As a paid subscriber, you are supporting the Small Places mission by helping me to spend more time dismantling adultism and fighting for children’s rights. I love writing about children’s liberation, but writing alone doesn’t pay the bills. Bluntly, the more subscribers I get, the more time I can afford to dedicate to writing about the things that matter to you: pushing back on the discrimination children face because of their age and shining a light on how things could be better.
Keeping my work accessible is important to me. If you can’t afford a paid sub but would like access the archive please email me (eloiserickman@substack.com) for a free subscription, no questions asked.
About Eloise
I’m an author and experienced parent educator who works with families around the world. My work focuses on challenging adultism (the discrimination children face based on their age), championing rights-based parenting and alternative education, and helping parents and caregivers rethink how they see children.
My first book, Extraordinary Parenting: The Essential Guide to Parenting and Educating at Home, was published in 2020 by Scribe.
My next book It’s Not Fair: Why It’s Time For A ‘Grown-Up’ Conversation About How Adults Treat Children focuses on children's rights and the idea of children's liberation, and will be published in June 2024.
I’m currently completing an MA in the Sociology of Childhood and Children's Rights at UCL. I have a degree in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University, where I first became interested in how childhood and family practices shape society.
I believe that parenting can be a hopeful and radical act, and that changing the way we treat children has the potential to shape and change society for the better (as well as making the world a better place for children here and now).
I live in London in a sunny little house full of books with my husband and daughter and our big ginger cat. Our daughter is home educated and has never been to school.
When I’m not writing or studying or thinking or talking about all things children and childhood, you can find me reading, cooking, swimming, and making the most of London's art galleries.
