Votes for children: the 1931 NSW Children’s Peace Vote for international cooperation, peace and security

This article investigates the Children’s Peace Vote of 1931, conducted in New South Wales schools in support of the League of Nations, to explore the possibility of writing a different kind of history that grapples with the political power of both ‘idealism’ and ‘performance’ and takes seriously children’s contributions to movements for peace and global unity. In doing so, this article explores the diversity of adult hopes and agendas that have surrounded – and continue to surround – visions of children’s political participation. In turn, I highlight how the nexus between adult-centrism and realism has obstructed meaningful engagement by historians with children’s contributions to movements for peace and disarmament in the interwar period.