African Child Soldiers and Humanitarian Consumption.

The article discusses the consumer market for films and literature about child soldiers, particularly noting the commercial success of the memoir "A Long Way Gone," by former child soldier Ishmael Beah. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, held by the United Nations in 1989, sparked public interest in children's welfare in war-torn nations. It is noted that children's aid organizations and stories about child soldiers often assume a universal process of child innocence and development and suggest that children are not rational players in society. Audiences see stories about child soldiers as tragic because of their preconceived romanticization of childhood.