Rethinking Independent Child Migration in Thailand: Victims of Exploitation or Competent Agents?

Capaldi, Mark P.

doi:10.14456/jpss.2015.10

“…As the constructionist conceptualization of resilience examines personal traits within the individual's cultural and contextual lives, this raises the need to better understand the child's agency and the reasons for their migratory journeys. Within Southeast Asia the only attempt to examine resilience of this group of children from a constructionist perspective was conducted by Capaldi (2014Capaldi ( , 2015Capaldi ( , 2016). Certainly, independent child migrants were able to successfully 'navigate their way' through Ungar's seven tensions with Capaldi suggesting that the 'glue' holding these all together was perhaps the reasons for them migrating and entering the labour market in the first place.…”

Section: The Why the What And The How: From Constructiveness To Inter...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a corollary of this interpretation, young migrant workers are generally regarded as lacking capacity and self-determination, needing to be shielded from the adult world as recipients of protection and welfare. Whilst recognising that independent child migrants are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, a number of scholars have begun to shed light on their 'real' lived experiences, giving impetus to a deconstruction of the hegemonic trafficking narrative (Huijsmans, 2008;Beazley, 2015;Beazley & Ross, 2017;Capaldi, 2014Capaldi, , 2015Capaldi, , 2016Capaldi, , 2017. The oversimplification of the child migration phenomenon within the child trafficking discourse, it is argued, has overshadowed the fact that migration can be a positive expression of young people's 'future seeking' and aspiration to the full realisation of their rights.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some scholars have gone beyond stressing children's agency. For example, Yea (2016) and Capaldi (2015Capaldi ( , 2016 have emphasised that agency and vulnerability are not antithetical concepts while Huijsmans has proposed a relational approach to agency which underscores the importance of factors such as age, gender and generation (Huijsmans, 2012(Huijsmans, , 2016(Huijsmans, , 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Migration to Southeast Asia

2018

An Introduction to the Culture and History of the Teochews in Singapore

0

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adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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“…As the constructionist conceptualization of resilience examines personal traits within the individual's cultural and contextual lives, this raises the need to better understand the child's agency and the reasons for their migratory journeys. Within Southeast Asia the only attempt to examine resilience of this group of children from a constructionist perspective was conducted by Capaldi (2014Capaldi ( , 2015Capaldi ( , 2016). Certainly, independent child migrants were able to successfully 'navigate their way' through Ungar's seven tensions with Capaldi suggesting that the 'glue' holding these all together was perhaps the reasons for them migrating and entering the labour market in the first place.…”

Section: The Why the What And The How: From Constructiveness To Inter...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a corollary of this interpretation, young migrant workers are generally regarded as lacking capacity and self-determination, needing to be shielded from the adult world as recipients of protection and welfare. Whilst recognising that independent child migrants are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, a number of scholars have begun to shed light on their 'real' lived experiences, giving impetus to a deconstruction of the hegemonic trafficking narrative (Huijsmans, 2008;Beazley, 2015;Beazley & Ross, 2017;Capaldi, 2014Capaldi, , 2015Capaldi, , 2016Capaldi, , 2017. The oversimplification of the child migration phenomenon within the child trafficking discourse, it is argued, has overshadowed the fact that migration can be a positive expression of young people's 'future seeking' and aspiration to the full realisation of their rights.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration in Southeast Asia

Testaverde¹,

Moroz²,

Hollweg³

et al. 2017

Migrating to Opportunity: Overcoming Barriers to Labor Mobility in Southeast Asia

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adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Accounting for Children’s Agency and Resilience in Independent Child Migration in Southeast Asia

Capaldi

¹

,

Altamura

²

2023

IMISCOE Research Series

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In Southeast Asia, the so-called phenomenon of independent child migration has received growing scholarly attention in the last decade or so. A common element of this body of literature is the questioning of the stereotypical adult-centred representation of children who migrate alone for work as passive victims of trafficking. Whilst not ignoring or downplaying that migrating children are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, a number of scholars have emphasized that if we listen to these children’s voices, an alternative discourse and approach can be proposed. Refusing unidimensional interpretations of what is in fact a complex issue, this work has unveiled several conceptual shortcomings in the conflation of child trafficking and independent child migration. In so doing, increasing emphasis has been placed on the notions of children’s agency, capacities and “childhood as a social construction”. Though only at a nascent state, research has also focused on the often neglected perspective of children’s resilience.Based on a comprehensive literature review, this chapter shows that by looking at independent child migration through these lenses, adolescent migration for work can often be a constructive aspiration of young people’s search for the full realization of their rights and a better life.

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Rethinking Independent Child Migration in Thailand: Victims of Exploitation or Competent Agents?

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

Migration to Southeast Asia

Migration to Southeast Asia

Migration in Southeast Asia

Accounting for Children’s Agency and Resilience in Independent Child Migration in Southeast Asia

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