Children: Rights, Participation and Citizenship

Abstract

This article considers the possibility of rethinking citizenship so as to include children. Much current discussion of children and society is marked by a series of interlocking discourses which serve to problematize and marginalize children. This dominant `negative agenda' thrives untouched by recognition of the many complex and demanding responsibilities accepted by children or of the many degrading social forces that bear down equally on children and adults such as poverty and racism. To think anew about citizenship and children can prompt us to consider the similarity of concerns confronting child and adult, and to recognize the interdependence of our lives and how such interdependency is best fostered. What might such a rethinking of citizenship entail? The article argues that, in addition to reconsidering what we think it is to be a child (for instance ideas about incompetence and irrationality associated with childhood), we need to rethink the value of the language of rights and the social significance of this language. Rights are not just about state-citizen relations but about how civil society should imagine itself; in this context the imagery of social conversation and participation is central to the rethinking of citizenship. The language of citizenship, rights and participation is fragmentary and yet the contestation around these ideas is intensifying and opening up new possibilities of social organization and dialogue. By way of conclusion, the requirements of such a vision of citizenship are considered - what will be needed to make it a social possibility.

Children's participation in school grounds developments: creating a place for education that promotes children's social inclusion

“…The array rather than a linear ladder potentially presents practitioners with greater choice of participatory approaches than Hart's ladder (1998: 41) and may be of some use as a participatory research tool or discussion focus. The augmented typology (figure 4) supports Roche's (1999) suggestion that it is important to take on board less binary notions of citizen/non-citizen. Because adults are not the only ones bearing rights and holding some degree of citizenship, both adult and child are best viewed as 'citizens in the making'.…”

Negotiating Active Citizenship: Young People’s Participation in Everyday Spaces

“…Martelli refers to this shift as an emergent form of participatory citizenship that combines participation, civicness and autonomy, which usefully opens up possibilities for rethinking active citizenship beyond institutional structures. Hart (2007: 321) Like Martelli (2013), Cornwall and Coelho (2005) and others (see for example Cockburn, 1998Cockburn, , 2007Roche, 1999;Jans, 2004;Larkins, 2014) also see possibilities for new forms of active citizenship at the interface between state and society in what can be called the 'participatory sphere' (Cornwall and Coelho, 2007) in which citizens can engage in democratic processes in more empowered ways. For Cockburn (2007) the participatory sphere in which children's citizenship is realized happens in liminal spaces between public and private domains 2 .…”

Parenté, citoyenneté et état civil des adoptés

“…Un adoptant ne peut donc accepter ou solliciter d'un orphelinat la proposition du frère ou de la soeur biologique d'un enfant qu'il a adopté précédemment, ni demander d'adopter dans l'orphelinat, la région ou le pays d'origine de ce dernier que s'il n'y a plus d'OA québécois travaillant à cet endroit (Gagnon, 2006) proposés par Howell (2009) définit l'enfant adopté uniquement sur la base de sa filiation adoptive, sans égard à son statut d' « enfant-citoyen » (Bhabha, 2003) pourtant reconnu par la CLH et qui fait de lui un sujet de droit à part entière. Son intégration directe à la citoyenneté est envisagée en vertu du principe d'égalité entre enfants biologiques et adoptés, et non en vertu du fait qu'il soit un « égal » (Roche, 1999) de tout ressortissant étranger qui présente une demande d'établissement au Canada.…”