Social Justice for Children in the South (Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies, 9) 981195044X, 9789811950445

Citation preview

Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9

Graciela H. Tonon   Editor

Social Justice for Children in the South

Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies Volume 9

Series Editors Takashi Inoguchi, J. F. Oberlin University, Tokyo, Japan Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, NY, USA G. John Ikenberry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA Lien Thi Quynh Le, Hue University, Hue City, Vietnam Etel Solingen, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA William R. Thompson, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA Stein Tønnesson , Peace Research Institute, Oslo, Norway Editorial Board Chiyuki Aoi, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Bertrand Badie, SciencesPo, Paris, France Miguel Basanez, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA Titli Basu, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, India Kerry Brown, King’s College London, London, UK Alexander Bukh, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand Pongphisoot Busbarat, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand Timur Dadabaev, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan Richard Estes, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Ofer Feldman, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, University of Essex, Colchester, UK Peshan R. Gunaratne, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka Purnendra Jain, University of Adelaide, SA, Australia Koji Kagotani, Osaka University of Economics, Osaka, Japan Ken Kotani, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan Yuichi Kubota, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan Meron Medzini, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel Paul Midford, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Satoru Miyamoto, Seigakuin University, Ageo, Japan Mehdi Mozaffari, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Maung Aung Myoe, International University of Japan, Niigata, Japan Takako Nabeshima, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan Edward Newman, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK Aparna Pande, Hudson Institute, Washington DC, USA Uddhab Pyakurel, Kathmandu University, Kathmandu, Nepal Frances Rosenbluth, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA Motoshi Suzuki, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan Shinichi Takeuchi, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan Motohiro Tsuchiya, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan Chikako Ueki, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan Ayse Zarakol, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

This series aims to publish books on peace and conflict with evidence-based approaches, befitting an era best characterized by uncertainty and complexity. Even if occurrence of major wars among sovereign states has dramatically decreased, from 5 million soldiers killed between 1938 and 1945 per annum; through 100,000 soldiers killed between 1945 and 1989 per annum; to 10,000 soldiers killed between 1989 and 2019 per annum; many kinds of peace and conflict keep arising in the world, with extraordinary technological progress and unprecedented spatial coverage. All parts of the world now are so well connected and interdependent. At the same time, they easily and suddenly become sources of immense vulnerability and fragility, bringing one or another of them to the verge of collapse and destruction. The causes are diverse: climate change, migration, pandemic and epidemic disease, civil strife, religious dissonance, economic competition, arms races, terrorism, corruption—a virtual plethora of sources. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, calls these and many others “problems without passports.” The basic methodological orientation sought in this series is broadly that of modern social and behavioral science. Of importance is that verifiable evidence (quantitative and qualitative, graphs and photos) be solidly attached to whatever arguments are advanced. Overseen by a panel of renowned scholars led by Editor-in-Chief Takashi Inoguchi, this book series employs a single-blind review process in which the Editor-in-Chief, the series editors, editorial board members, and specialized scholars designated by the Editor-in-Chief or series editors rigorously review each proposal and manuscript to ensure that every submission makes a valuable contribution that will appeal to a global scholarly readership.

Graciela H. Tonon Editor

Social Justice for Children in the South

Editor Graciela H. Tonon Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, CICS-UP Universidad de Palermo Buenos Aires, Argentina UNICOM - Faculty of Social Sciences Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora Buenos Aires, Argentina

ISSN 2730-5651 ISSN 2730-566X (electronic) Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies ISBN 978-981-19-5044-5 ISBN 978-981-19-5045-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. 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. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

For my children Pedro and Erica and for my husband Walter who always encourage me with their love and support me in my daily life.

Preface

This book has as a fundamental axis of reflection, the participation of boys and girls in the countries of the South. The authors of the chapters present different theoretical proposals, as well as research results, in South American countries: Argentina and Colombia, in Africa: The Sub-Saharan Region and South Africa, in Asia: India, and about ethnic minorities from the south living in Europe. The book begins with Chapter 1, of my authorship, in which I first present a theoretical reflection on the concepts of vulnerability, social vulnerability, and social exclusion and then analyze these terms in the context of South America. Next, it is dedicated to analyzing social justice for children and the responses of adults— in the sphere of the family, organizations, and public policies—in the face of the social vulnerability of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the capability approach, the text supports the idea that a society that does not respect the rights of children, or does not maintain their well-being, cannot be considered a just society, and raises the need to consolidate universal social protection systems that are sensitive to the rights of children and guarantee the allowance per child, in South America. In Chapter 2, Francisco Lavolpe examines the concept of Social Justice as a principle of state policy on children’s rights in South America noted that significant inequalities remain in place for children’s integration into social life and the exercise of their citizen rights and duties. The result of his analysis suggests the need for South American countries to work together towards the adoption of common state policies based on a social justice approach that expands all children’s opportunities to fully exercise their rights. Oliver Fiala and Enrique Delamonica, in Chapter 3, reflect on how to measure pro-poor public spending for children. They identify three issues: measurement of public spending in education, health, and direct transfers; the methodological issues involved in this measurement and, the assessment of the impact on children in poverty and equity. Finally, the authors propose to analyze the relationships between the level and distribution of these expenditures with distributive justice (of public social spending) and children’s quality of life.

vii

viii

Preface

In Chapter 4, Sabirah Adams and Shazly Savahl, from South Africa interrogate about the principles of social justice and consider the extent to which these contemporary theories and the key principles of social justice implicate research on children’s well-being. They draw on the notion of children’s rights and examine the extent to which the impact of COVID-19 on children in the Global South is a children’s rights issue, and whether the universal response to the pandemic should situate children as a vulnerable group warranting special social policy considerations. In Chapter 5, I present with Damian Molgaray, the results of a research focused on the study of children’s daily life during the confinement stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter comments on children’s opinions and analyzes their daily experiences during the period of compulsory social isolation, and the effects on their lives and well-being and about what adults should have thought, especially about children during the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures or decisions that should have been taken in the face of the pandemic both at the family, organizational and government level. In Chapter 6, Haifa AlArasi, Javier Martinez, and Sherif Amer present the results of a case study conducted with children from an ethnic minority living in the city of Enschede, focused on understanding participants experiences and perceptions regarding their local neighbourhoods through an experimental digital methodology using Google MapsTM . The findings showcase detailed geolocated observations that can be incorporated into the urban planning process and hold the possibility of better addressing children’s needs in their living environments and realizing social justice. Nicolás Brando and Alexandra Etcheverry, in Chapter 7, reflect about the situation of child soldiers in Colombia during the transitional process from armed conflict to peace, where a massive number of children were demobilized and are in the process of reintegration into society. They analyze the law and policy that regulate the recovery and reintegration of demobilized child soldiers to explore these more ample questions on the just treatment of them, using the rights enshrined in Convention on the Rights of the Child. In Chapter 8, Gonzalo de Castro Lamela and Luis Bueno Conde reflect on the results of a research project, that explores the influence of contextual and cultural factors in the well-being and expectations of adolescents living in two districts of the state of Maharastra, India: a rural area—Shilonda, Palghar District- and an urban slum—Lallubhai Compound—in Mumbai, focusing in the quality of close and social relationships, and the interconnectivity across different ‘scales’ from the local to the global. Mario Biggeri and Caterina Arciprete, in Chapter 9, focus on the changes needed to empower children’s agency and to make them capable agents able to exercise active citizenship via education and via participation in research processes, production of knowledge and through their involvement in activism and social mobilization. Finally, Cornelia Walther in Chapter 10 proposes POZE, a paradigm which looks at human life as a composition of twice four dimensions, whereby the soul, heart, mind, and body of the individual reflect the individuals, communities, society, and ultimately the universe that they are part of. The central message is that social justice

Preface

ix

for children is a win-win-win-win for all parties because individual well-being is the cause and condition of collective well-being. I want to thank the authors who participated in this book by commenting on their experiences in the different cities of the South, they are all professionals committed to children and concerned about the situations of vulnerability, inequality, and social injustice that many children on the planet still live. Buenos Aires, Argentina May 2022

Graciela H. Tonon

Acknowledgements For all the girls and boys with whom we work in our research.

Contents

1

Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South . . . . Graciela Tonon

2

Social Justice as a State Policy: Children’s Rights in South America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francisco Lavolpe

23

Public Spending and Investment in Children: Measuring and Assessing Social and Economic Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oliver Fiala and Enrique Delamonica

43

3

4

5

6

A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being: Considerations for Children’s Rights in the Context of COVID-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sabirah Adams and Shazly Savahl The Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage Due to the COVID 19 Pandemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graciela Tonon and Damián Molgaray Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation and Realizing Social Justice in the Urban Realm: A Case Study in the Classroom with Ethnic Minority Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Haifa AlArasi, Javier Martinez, and Sherif Amer

1

61

83

97

7

Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? An Analysis of the Case of Colombia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Nicolás Brando and Alexandra Echeverry

8

Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions in Mumbai’s Hinterland and Its Slums: What Means ‘to Become Someone’ in Early XXI Century in Maharastra? . . . . . . 133 Gonzalo de Castro Lamela and Luis Bueno Conde

xi

xii

9

Contents

Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Mario Biggeri and Caterina Arciprete

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice: The Shared Benefit of Change for Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Cornelia C. Walther

List of Contributors

Adams Sabirah Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa AlArasi Haifa Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Amer Sherif Department of Urban Planning and Management, Faculty of GeoInformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Arciprete Caterina Department of Economics and Management, University of Florence, ARCO Research Centre, Prato, Italy Biggeri Mario Department of Economics and Management, University of Florence, ARCO Research Centre, Prato, Italy Brando Nicolás School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK Bueno Conde Luis Social Research Area, Fundación Educación Y Cooperación (EDUCO Foundation-Spain), Barcelona, Spain de Castro Lamela Gonzalo Social Research Area, Fundación Educación Y Cooperación (EDUCO Foundation-Spain), Barcelona, Spain Delamonica Enrique Statistics and Monitoring Child Poverty and Gender Equality, UNICEF, New York, NY, USA Echeverry Alexandra Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF), Bogota, Colombia Fiala Oliver Save the Children, London, UK Lavolpe Francisco Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires, Argentina

xiii

xiv

List of Contributors

Martinez Javier Department of Urban Planning and Management, Faculty of GeoInformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Molgaray Damián CICS-UP, School of Social Sciences, Universidad de Palermo, Ciudad Autònoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina Savahl Shazly Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa Tonon Graciela Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, CICS-UP, Universidad de Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina; UNICOM - Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires, Argentina Tonon Graciela CICS-UP, School of Social Sciences, Universidad de Palermo, Ciudad Autònoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina Walther Cornelia C. POZE, Tuebingen, Germany; Center for Social Norms and Behavior Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Chapter 1

Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South Graciela Tonon

Abstract Vulnerability is defined as the insecurity, precariousness, and defencelessness in which children are immersed, because of asymmetric social relations with adults, which are still maintained in the actions of families and organizations. Vulnerability is situational, it is conditioned by the context in which it develops, and can be caused or exacerbated by personal, social, political, economic, environmental, and situations groups. (Mackenzie et al., 2013, pp. 7–8). Justice for children is about safeguarding their well-being, and the functioning and capabilities that matter to justice, as well as thresholds for them, should be selected with reference to that (Schweiger & Graf, 2015). This chapter presents a theoretical reflection on the concepts of vulnerability, social vulnerability and social exclusion and then analyze these terms in the context of South America. Next, it is dedicated to analyzing social justice for children and the responses of adults -in the sphere of the family, organizations, and public policies- in the face of the social vulnerability of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the capability approach, the text supports the idea that a society that does not respect the rights of children, or does not maintain their well-being, cannot be considered a just society, and raises the need to consolidate universal social protection systems that are sensitive to the rights of children and guarantee the allowance per child, in South America. Keyword Children · Vulnerability · Social Vulnerability · Social Exclusion · Social Justice · Social Protection System · Capability Approach

1.1 Introduction Social vulnerability and social justice are related concepts, for they both share the fact that they are generally associated with the concept of poverty. Yet both social vulnerability and social justice are terms that have multiple definitions, depending G. Tonon (B) Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_1

1

2

G. Tonon

on the way in which each author tackles them in their research studies. On the other hand, they have a feature in common: they have both been reconfigured with the passing of time. Vulnerability is situational, for it is conditioned by the context in which it develops, and can be caused or exacerbated by personal, social, political, economic, environmental, and situations groups (Mackenzie et al., 2013, pp. 7–8). In this sense, vulnerability is a multidimensional and multi causal process, in which children can be injured or damaged in the face of changes or the permanence of external and/or internal situations, that affect their level of well-being and the exercise of their rights. Living in situations of vulnerability has been a situation that has repeatedly affected children throughout history, but in the current scenario of COVID-19 Pandemic, boys and girls have been exposed to specific situations of vulnerability. Justice for children is about safeguarding their well-being, and the functioning and capabilities that matter to justice; in this regard, thresholds for them should be selected. In this line we agree with Schweiger and Graf (2015, p. 13) when they state that a capability-oriented concept of justice for children should be constructed, since it differs from this concept when applied to adults. In our research work we focus on childhood, taking into account children’s present situation i,e, not merely following the trend of placing boys and girls as subjects in a transition to the stage of adulthood. For if we were to regard childhood as a mere process, we would run the risk of failing to detect today’s children’s own defining characteristics, with all their associated strengths, expectations, and problems, derived from the social, political, cultural, and economic context through which their biographies are constructed (Mieles Barrera & Tonon, 2015).

1.2 The Concept of Vulnerability Vulnerability denotes a characteristic: a condition of risk or defencelessness, being susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard, or to an exposure that comes with a certain degree of uncertainty (Moreno Crossley, 2008, p. 9). Several authors conceive vulnerability as a multidimensional and multi-causal situation that may cause subjects to be hurt, injured, or damaged by change, or by the persistence of external and/or internal situations that affect their level of well-being and the possibility of exercising their rights (Busso, 2005, p. 16). Cannon et al. (2003, p. 5) pointed out that vulnerability is not the same as poverty, marginalization, or other conceptualizations that identify sections of the population who are deemed to be disadvantaged, or at risk. They sustain that poverty is a measure of current status, but vulnerability should involve a predictive analysis of what may happen to a specific population under conditions of particular risks and hazards. Therefore, if we regard vulnerability as situational, we may also be able to identify the different contexts in which this concept is applied—for instance, it is not the same to refer to vulnerability in terms of natural and/or climatic disasters, than in terms

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

3

of what happens to people, groups, or communities. Likewise, it is not the same to refer to economic vulnerability as to refer to social or political vulnerability. If by vulnerability we mean natural disasters a classic on the subject is the pioneer research carried out in 1989 by Anderson and Woodrow (2019) who constructed the Capacity Vulnerability Analysis (CVA) an approach based on a matrix for viewing people’s vulnerabilities and capacities in three interrelated areas: physical/material, social/organizational and motivational/attitudinal. The physical/material area includes land, climate, environment, health, skills and labour, infrastructure, housing, finance, and technologies. The social/organizational area is centred in the manner in which society is organized, its internal conflicts and how they are handled; it further includes formal political structures and the informal systems through which people get things done. Finally, the motivational/attitudinal area refers to the way people in society view themselves and their ability to affect their environment, people’s beliefs, and motivations, and how disasters affect them. The authors added five other factors that can be considered in the analysis: disaggregation by gender, disaggregation by other differences, changes over time, interaction between the categories, and different scales or levels of application (Cannon et al., 2003, pp. 10–11, quoting Anderson & Woodrow, 1990). The Report on Human Development 2014 has focused on vulnerability reduction on the grounds that, though the word “vulnerable” appears to be an abstraction, it turns less abstract when seeking for answers to the questions: what subjects are regarded as vulnerable, what they are vulnerable to, and why they are vulnerable (UNDP, 2014, p. 18). “Many of people’s vulnerabilities (and strengths) are the result of their life experiences; thus, their past achievements exert an influence over their current exposure and livelihood (PNUD, 2014, p. 2)”. 2001 Nobel Prize winner, Joseph Stiglitz (UNDP, 2014, p. 85) contributed for the above-mentioned report, pointing out that at its basic level, vulnerability may be defined as the exposure to a marked decrease in standard of living, thus becoming a serious concern when it is prolonged, causing the standards of living to fall below critical thresholds to a point of deprivation. The author further adds that the greatest vulnerabilities emerge in societies which have been exposed to severe crises that have deprived vast portions of their populations of the adequate mechanisms to confront them. He further refers to the relationship between vulnerability and inequality, by sustaining that it is necessary to take inequality into account when analysing vulnerability. If human development is about expanding options, human vulnerability essentially arises from a restriction of options for human development, and so people feel more vulnerable when they have few options—and when these options are also less secure. Viewing vulnerability in the context of capabilities and choices draws attention to the important relationship between human vulnerability, personal differences, environmental diversities, social variations, relational perspectives, and the distribution of resources within households (PNUD, 2014, p. 23).

4

G. Tonon

1.3 The Concept of Vulnerability in Latin America with Focus in South America In Latin America, several authors point out that vulnerability has become a characteristic trait in the social reality of this region, since the 1990s (Pizarro, 2001, pp. 18–19). Moreover, there has been a consolidation of the so-called “emergent problems” in this region (Pizarro, 2001), such as new inequalities, poverty, unemployment, corruption—generating an increase in different types of violence and addictions, and consequently resulting in escalating violence, especially in urban areas. Understanding these phenomena is a complex matter, unless the state of vulnerability of many people, families, and communities is taken into consideration. In the early XXI century, Rodríguez Vignoli (2000) developed a research work, from CEPAL, studying vulnerable groups and vulnerability in some Latin American countries, based on the national censuses of population and housing in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Uruguay during the 90. The author focused on the study of the so-called demographic vulnerability, which can be defined as a set of demographic characteristics of households and housing units which hinders the possibility of upward income distribution, strongly associated with other manifestations of social advantage. It may be further added that the concept of household and housing unit includes families, homes, and groups of people who share a dwelling place. According to Rodríguez Vignoli (2000, p. 13) social disadvantages may be defined as the social conditions which have a negative effect on the performance of communities, homes, and persons for they imply a limited social access (to knowledge and/or availability) as well as to resource management capability, and to the opportunities the society has to offer its members. He further points out that the decline mainly derives from the factors that constitute the prevailing social order rather than from people’s inherent abilities or free choices. Social disadvantages may also be due to ethnic, territorial, or socio-cultural stigmatization or marginalization (Rodriguez Vignoli, 2000, p. 13). The notion of vulnerability allows more dynamic approaches— which may possibly predict hazards or risks, as well as potential reinforcement or adaptation (Rodriguez Vignolo, 2000, p. 13). Moreno Crossley (2008, p. 2) also analysed vulnerability in Latin America and developed a critical discussion on the potentialities and limitations that come up when applying the concept of social vulnerability to the study of inequality and poverty in this region, with a special reference to the case of Chile. The author states that the concept of social vulnerability is an emergent concept (Moreno Crossley, 2008, p. 5) and further adds that two paths have been identified, which lead to its explanation. The first one conceives vulnerability as a particular attribute or dimension which adds complexity to the assessment of the situation of persons, households, groups, and communities. From this perspective, social vulnerability is regarded as being closely related to the identification of structural processes or features that allow the perception of situations of fragility, precariousness, defencelessness, or uncertainty, configured as a dynamic conditioning that affects the possibilities of integration,

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

5

upward mobility, or development (Moreno Crossley, 2008, p. 5). Thus, vulnerability correlates with a series of processes of social exclusion (the latter being understood as processes that deprive subjects of the basic resources that allow social integration) which have a negative effect on people if they persist in time (Moreno Crossley, 2008, p. 12). The second is characterized by including the notion of risk—in other words, a situation of vulnerability is related to the way in which it is affected by the joint effect of a multiplicity of risk factors. In this conception, the focus is diverted from the consideration of the problem of distribution of services, material/symbolic possessions, or rewards, to that of risk distribution which results from collective decisionmaking processes that are defined as such, insofar as they are confronted to socially constructed representations of security (Moreno Crossley, 2008, p. 5). In this way, the notion of risk is introduced as a constituent component of the concept of vulnerability. The notion of risk implies the intrusion of contingencies in the courses of action, i.e. the upper or lower probabilities of undergoing certain negative consequences as a result of individual or collective decision making. In other words, a group or community may be regarded as vulnerable because of the joint effect of a multiplicity of risk factors that create a context of social vulnerability. Such factors may be of different kinds, and their relevance derives from the degree of disadvantages they produce, thus hindering the development of the potentialities of subjects, groups, and/or communities. Although the extent and characteristics of the effects derived from risk factors are related to the different forms of inequality in the distribution of goods and services, the focus here is placed on the way in which they are distributed in society (Moreno Crossley, 2008, p. 13).

1.4 Social Vulnerability A specific type of vulnerability, which particularly concerns us in this chapter, is the one we term social vulnerability, for it relates people’s characteristics to the different ways in which they withstand the adverse impacts from multiple stressors they are exposed to. According to Canon et al. (2003, p. 4) social vulnerability may be defined as a complex set of different characteristics which include: initial well-being (which takes into account people’s nutritional status as well as their physical and mental health); livelihood and resilience; social care (i.e. society’s different responses to risks and threats); and social and political institutions (i.e. the institutional context that should provide the proper conditions and necessary precautions to safeguard people from danger and allow them to exercise their right to express their needs). Pizarro (2001, pp. 11–12) admits that the definition of social vulnerability has been strongly influenced by Anglo-Saxon academic trends, which range from those devoted to the study of natural disasters, thus enhancing physical aspects; to the ones which attempt to explain changes experienced in the lifestyle of the communities, when faced with traumatic socio-economic events. The author further points out that

6

G. Tonon

the consideration of natural disasters and traumatic socio-economic events as central elements in the study of social vulnerability turns it less functional for a qualitative research study of topics related to migration, health, education, or legal issues that may turn people more liable to be damaged by others, in their social role. In other thematic research areas such as the environment, Cutter et al. (2003, pp. 242–243) focused their study on social vulnerability to environmental hazards. In the text, the authors find three main tenets in vulnerability research: the identification of conditions that make people or places vulnerable to extreme natural events; the assumption that vulnerability is a social condition, a measure of societal resistance or resilience to hazards; and the integration of potential exposures and societal resilience with a specific focus on places or regions. Social vulnerability is most often described using people’s individual characteristics, such as age, race, health, income, type of housing, employment. Yet social vulnerability is more likely to be the product of social inequalities, that is to say, the social factors that influence or shape the susceptibility of various groups to be harmed, while hindering their ability to respond (Cutter et al., 2003, p. 243). However, it also includes inequalities of place, those characteristics of communities and the built environment, such as the level of urbanization, growth rates, and economic vitality, which contribute to social vulnerability of places (p. 243). Cutter et al. (2003, p. 245) pointed out that there is a consensus within the social sciences about some of the major factors that influence social vulnerability. These include lack of access to resources (including information, knowledge, and technology); limited access to political power and representation; social capital— including social networks and connections; beliefs and customs; building stock and age; frail and physically limited individuals; and type and density and lifeline infrastructure. They (2003, pp. 246–249) propose a list of social vulnerability indicators namely: socioeconomic status (income, political power, prestige), gender, race & ethnicity, age, commercial and industrial development, employment loss, rural/urban, residential property, infrastructure and lifelines, renters, occupation, family structure, education, population growth, medical services, social dependences, “special needs population”. Later, Siagian et al. (2014) developed a research study in Indonesia, applying the social vulnerability indicators used by Cutler et al. (2003) and found that social vulnerability has various concepts and definitions, according to the different authors. In their research work, Siagian et al. (2014, p. 1605) identified and recapitulated the different definitions of this concept during the 1990s. Adger (1999) considers that social vulnerability is the result of the exposure of groups or individuals to unexpected changes and disruption to livelihoods. According to Cutter and Emrich (2006) social vulnerability is the limitation of a community to the impact of natural disasters that influence its ability or resilience in the effort to recover from the impacts. For Cutter et al. (2009) social vulnerability is a pre-existing condition of existing communities, irrespective of type of hazards. Solangaarachchi et al. (2012) consider that social vulnerability plays a crucial role in all phases of the disaster cycle, especially in the response and recovery phase.

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

7

Holand et al. (2011) identified two distinct parts of social vulnerability: the socioeconomic vulnerability and the built environment vulnerability. For Birkmann (2006) social vulnerability should not be restricted to social fragilities, but should also cover social inequalities regarding income, age, and gender. Anderson and Woodrow (2019) pointed out that vulnerabilities include many long trends and factors, some of which directly contribute to suffering, and it is clear that people undergo different degrees of vulnerability, so they suffer differently. Regarding suffering, we coincide with Anderson (2015, p. 3) who considers that social suffering results from social institutions, especially from community, or societal norms that encourage discrimination or harm against members of social groups toward which stigma has been directed. One frequent consequence of social suffering is the loss of caring for oneself and others as valued human beings; good examples of social suffering are the victims of social discrimination, disability, and poverty. Anderson (2017) expressed that suffering may be felt individually but its alleviation is social and requires not only social cooperation but also social institutions that work together effectively. He related suffering with social justice and considered that social justice describes a move towards a socially just world, based on the concepts of human rights and equality, as defined in terms of how human rights permeate peoples’ lives throughout society, with institutions working together to achieve social justice. The desired realization is that all members of a society should have basic human rights and equal access to the benefits of their society, all of which leads to fairness. Our conclusion is that social vulnerability can encompass various aspects and features, that both societal conditions and the exposure to natural hazards can influence vulnerability of communities and places (Gall, 2007). Social vulnerability can be considered the result of social inequalities and inequalities of place (Cutter et al., 2003). Hence, social vulnerability can explain why some communities differ from others in the way they experience and suffer hazardous events.

1.5 Social Vulnerability and Social Exclusion Social vulnerability is also related with social exclusion. Subirats (2004, p. 19) defines social exclusion as a concrete situation resulting from a dynamic process of cumulativeness, spatial superposition and/or a combination of diverse factors of social deprivation or social vulnerability which may affect persons or groups, generating their impossibility or low prospects of access to mechanisms of self-development, socio community insertion, and social protection systems. He further points out that the situations of social exclusion are the result of a chain of events reinforced or driven by the inequalities and structural determinants of the economic and social system (Subirats, 2004, p. 18). The author proposes three axes to explain social exclusion, namely: age, sex, and/or ethnia, while identifying seven dimensions of exclusion: economic, labour, formative, socio-sanitary, residential, relational, and that of citizenship and participation (Subirats, 2004, pp. 21/22).

8

G. Tonon

In the same line of thought, Jiménez Ramírez (2008, p. 174) considers social exclusion to be related with processes linked to social citizenship, i.e. with people’s basic rights and liberties, in other words, with their well-being. The author further describes social exclusion as a process rather than a stable situation, which alternately affects persons and groups, and which is also solvable. She finally adds that social exclusion is a dynamic notion which enables us to typify both the processes and the situations derived from them (Jiménez Ramírez, 2008, p. 178). Later, Chuaqui et al. (2016, p. 163) defined social exclusion as a social relation that obstructs or hinders access to social mobility, and/or the possibility of overcoming a situation or exercising a right to which they are entitled. Exclusion may be found in different relationships, levels, or features of the social structure, which specify their concrete manifestations, and may further belong to various types. According to Jiménez Ramírez (2008, p. 175) the authors characterize exclusion as a multicausal, relative and structural dynamic process; dynamic, due to the complexity of the social reality, the multi etiologic quality of social phenomena, as a result of the interconnection of systems and their components; and structural, since the general causes are based on the economic-political structure of a society and its culture (Chuaqui et al., 2016, p. 164). These authors further recognize three levels of exclusion, namely: the impossibility or difficulty of access to some social system, due to inaccessibility to basic rights and services, or the impossibility to be part of a system, group, or have access to services, as a result of social differentiations, in the form of discrimination and stigma (Chuaqui et al., 2016, pp. 164–165). They finally conclude that social exclusion consists in status limitations, or degradations of a social category or system of multidimensional interactions, expressed in the form of precarious power, or in the structural barriers of the social positions of a certain social category, or in the interaction system, all of which are expressed in multidimensional limitations of its power (Chuaqui et al., 2016, p. 167). Yet, social exclusion also has a spatial dimension, since the exclusion processes are often accompanied by territorial segregation processes which nurture exclusion; furthermore, there is an environmental, social, cultural, and social policy contextual conditioning, all of which plays a major role in the processes of social exclusion (Subirats, 2004, p. 21). In this respect, we might reflect upon the concept of territory, due the particular significance it acquires in the Latin American context. Giménez (2000, p. 23) states that a territory is the product of the value appropriation of a certain space, which may have a functional-instrumental or a symbolic-expressive value. The former case is utilitarian based (i.e., in terms of economic exploitation or geopolitical advantages); while the latter highlights the role of territory as a space for symbolic-cultural sedimentation, such as the case of aesthetic and recreational investments, or to promote individual or collective institutions. Giménez (2000), in turn, recognizes three dimensions of the concept of territory. The first dimension considers territory as a space to develop a cultural heritage. In the second dimension, territory is conceived as a spatial setting or area in which institutions and cultural practices are distributed, though not intrinsically related to

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

9

any space in particular. In a third dimension, territory may be subjectively appropriated as an object of representation and a sense of belonging, i.e. as a symbol of socio-territorial integration. On the other hand, Silva (1992, p. 55, quoted by Ramirez Velazquez and Lopez Levi [2015], p. 147) had already differentiated two types of territorial appropriation, namely: the official one, which belongs to the institutions; and that of the citizens, which is created and transformed through its daily occupation by the people who use it and visit it. Ramirez Velazquez and Lopez Levi (2015, p. 157) further point out that the concept of territory shows the relationship between the political and the cultural realms of human life. Its political definition relates it to power and to the State, according to the Eurocentric version of this term, which has exerted an influence over the studies on political geography and public policies. Whereas the cultural dimension of the term integrates nature with production and the reproduction of social groups, as well as its significance in everyday life this being the Latin American conception of the term, i.e. rural, and centred in the continent’s environmental movements, which accentuate its political dimension. Subirats (2004, p. 138) states that processes of exclusion are never identical, though certain factors are to be found in all of them, such as certain situations and shortcomings in the services which should hypothetically confront them. The author further calls our attention to the fact that exclusion is not something inevitable or inherent of or defined in the new forms or economic development; it is, in fact, a political phenomenon, subjected to the response given by public institutions and to the civil participation (Subirats, 2004, p. 143). Sen (2000) points out that the concept of inequality has been traditionally restricted to the income field, leaving aside other ways of regarding inequality, and other existent spaces of inequality, thus causing the debates on social and economic policies to be distorted, due to the strong emphasis placed on income as well as the “disinterest in other variables such as poor health and education, or social exclusion” (Sen, 2000, pp. 137–138).

1.6 Social Justice Social justice is a concept which has given way to several definitions, derived from various fields of study. Fraser (2008) acknowledges two types of social justice vindications: the vindications of distributive justice—which are centred in a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources—and the politics of recognition, which aims at the achievement of respect for diversity. The author believes that both types are necessary in order to achieve social justice, and further points out that “in practice, the challenge is to conceive a programmatic political orientation which may allow an integration of the best aspects of the politics of distribution and the politics of recognition (Fraser, 2008, p. 84). In this respect, we may add that the author’s viewpoint (Fraser, 2008, p. 86)

10

G. Tonon

is that, in the field of politics, the terms “distribution” and “recognition” are popular paradigms of justice which provide information on the struggles that take place in the civil society today, these paradigms being the sets of related conceptions of the causes and ways to address injustice. Her proposal is a model of recognition centred in the normative principle of parity of participation—which implies a change, both in political institutions and in public policies (Fraser, 2008, p. 99). On the other hand, Murrillo Torrecilla et al. (2011, p. 12) have identified three conceptions of social justice: social justice and distribution, social justice and recognition, and social justice and participation. The first of these conceptions is centred in the distribution of income, natural resources, and capabilities; the second one focuses on the cultural recognition of each and every person, and in the just relationship between culture and society; and the third conception focuses on participation in the decision making that affects the subjects’ own lives, i.e., on securing that they may have an active and equitable participation in society. Participation implies considering subjects as the protagonists of the decisions; in this way, participation is more than acting together, it is about making decisions together (Tonon, 2012, p. 15). The possibilities of participation depend on the nature of the social institutions and the State, and society plays a leading role in terms of responsibility (Sen, 2000). In this sense, the construction of any democratic society requires the participation of citizens since childhood. According to Sen (2000, p. 345), it is necessary that justice and development, centred on freedom, should pay close attention to the agency of the individuals— since they should not be considered as mere patients receiving benefits from the process of development. Nussbaum (2012, pp. 38–39) expressed that the focus on capabilities may be defined as a particular approach to the assessment of quality of life, and to the theories of social justice, for it shows concern for ingrained social injustice and social inequality, making the state and its public policies responsible for the improvement of the quality of life of each person, according to their capabilities. The question of social justice has also been approached from the point of view of moral psychology, and in this respect Williams (2008, p. 7) expresses that the very notion of social justice is linked to the development of human potentialities, or to the conditions that allow the development of said potentialities. The author sustains that social justice is the result of the development and continuity of the social conditions within which all subjects may enjoy the realization of their potentialities, not only as individuals, but also as members of the community. From this perspective, the question of social injustice might be more accurately rooted in the eudemonic tradition, which regards human well-being, realization, and flourishing as the ultimate good, acknowledging that the development of the conditions that lead to human realization and flourishing is closely related to the way in which people treat each other. Moreover, the author sustains that justice and injustice are intra and interpersonal realities and are therefore a concern not only for politics and institutional practice, but also for moral psychology.

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

11

1.7 Children’s Social Vulnerability When referring to childhood, Casas (1998, p. 118) points out that each culture, either explicitly or implicitly, defines childhood and its characteristics; therefore, from his point of view, the concept of childhood refers to the social consensus of children’s own reality. Children are a social group interacting with other social groups, modifying, and contributing to changes in society; they can be affected by society in a similar manner, but they are affected differently as compared to their own parents or other adults (Gaitán Muñoz, 2006). Childhood, as a social category, has been traditionally defined in a disqualifying manner, as everything that children could not yet be or do, or by comparing their current roles with those they might perform in the future, when they grew up, disregarding what they could do in the present time (Tonon et al., 2017). With reference to children’s social vulnerability, it is defined as the insecurity, precariousness and defencelessness in which children are immersed, being a product of asymmetric social relations with adults, which continue to exist in the actions of families and organizations. Cannon et al. (2003, p. 4) expressed that vulnerability “should be predictive, should be capable of directing development aid interventions, seeking ways to protect and enhance peoples’ livelihoods, assist vulnerable people in their own self-protection, and support institutions in their role of disaster prevention”. The Human Development Report 2014, has referred to children as one of the most intrinsically vulnerable groups, as compared to others. (UNDP, 2014, p. 23). Furthermore, Subirats (2004), had already proposed considering age as one of the axes to explain social exclusion. The Human Development Report 2014 has identified two types of vulnerability, namely: structural vulnerability, and vulnerability life cycle. The latter is the kind especially related to childhood. Structural vulnerabilities (UNPD, 2014, p. 5) increase when the social and judicial institutions, the power structure, the political spaces, or the traditions, and the sociocultural norms do not equitably serve the interests of all the members of society, i.e. when structural barriers are set up for certain persons or groups, when it comes to exercising their rights. Structural vulnerability is rooted in people’s position in society—their gender, ethnicity, race, job type, or social status—and evolves and persists over long periods. A fuller understanding of such vulnerability implies that people who are otherwise endowed with equal capabilities may still face differing barriers based on who they are, where they live, or what they do. (UNDP, 2014, p. 22)

Vulnerability life cycle (PNUD, 2014, p. 8) is related to the fact that people experience different degrees and types of insecurity and vulnerability, in different stages of their lives, as is the case of childhood. Inadequate care during childhood can limit capabilities and increase vulnerability; while early and continuous investments strengthen the formation of skills for life (UNDP, 2014, p. 55). Children’s development can be severely affected by external influences; thus, they are more vulnerable to certain forms of damage. In this respect, Schweiger and Graf

12

G. Tonon

(2015, p. 26) distinguished three types of vulnerability: physical, mental, and social, which are correlated with dimensions of powerlessness. The social vulnerability of children is related to their personal situation and the conception of childhood of the society in which they live (Graf, 2015). Social vulnerability can be disaggregated into economic and political. Children are economically vulnerable because they cannot provide income, housing, and transportation by themselves; and they are politically vulnerable because they cannot organize themselves in a way that may generate political influence to change their lives (Schweiger & Graf, 2015, p. 27). Considering the contributions of the above-mentioned authors, we may further add that children do express their opinion regarding acts of government, an example of which being the research work1 that we developed during the first stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, in which we collected children’s opinion on government decisions. On that occasion, their answer was that governments in general should help those who get sick, help those who have lost their jobs, and help the elderly, who are the most vulnerable; and in the particular case of children, allow them to go out to play and ride their bicycles, as well as organize homework that may present few difficulties. Children’s protagonist role and the development of their freedom are not only referred to the autonomy or independence they may enjoy but are also based on an active relationship with the world around them. This relationship is closely connected with the social structure where their lives unfold, and it provides them with an opportunity to play an active role in society (Liebel, 2007, p. 27).

1.8 Social Justice for Children When dealing with social justice for children, we shall further refer to the work developed by Schweiger and Graf (2015) who point out that it requires the safeguarding of children´s well-being, and the functions and capabilities that matter to justice, taking into account their thresholds. In a text referred to childhood, based on the capability approach, the above-mentioned authors express that this approach “claims that the best available currency of justice is constituted by capabilities” (Schweiger & Graf, 2015, p. 15). Sen (2000), considers that the freedom to lead a life one has reason to value, is one of the most highly prized features of human life; and he introduces the notion of capabilities, defined as the functionings a person has actually access to, and which reflects the person’s freedom to make different achievements, besides being decisive that a just society should provide the conditions to make this possible (Schweiger & Graf, 2015, p. 23).

1

Research Project (2020-2021), Children´s view on the COVID-19 Pandemic. CICS-UP, Faculty of Social Sciences Universidad de Palermo, Argentina. Director Dr. Graciela Tonon.

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

13

A person’s capabilities depend on many different factors, as they are the product of each person’s abilities and skills, as well as to the political, social, and economic context, yet they also depend on resources (Schweiger & Graf, 2015, p. 23). The capability approach provides an overarching structure for understanding and measuring equality, which focuses on what matters to people, recognizes diversity in needs, lays emphasis on barriers, constraints, structures, and processes, while recognizing diversity as regards goals (Buchardt & Vizard, 2007, p. 7). The capability approach is an explicitly normative philosophy, aiming to increase social justice for oppressed groups (Nussbaum, 2011, quoted in Brunner & Watson, 2015, p. 8; Sen, 2009). Capabilities have a direct bearing on the individuals’ well-being and freedom, while exerting a direct influence on social change and economic production (Sen, 2000, p. 354). In allusion to children’s capabilities, Anderson (2010, p. 84) states that the relevant standard of justice is measured in terms of functionings, rather than capabilities, for children lack the autonomy to choose for themselves, and therefore depend on adults to be able to do so. Thus, the functionings that children are able to develop will have an impact on their capabilities as adults. According to Sen (1999), capabilities in adults are rooted in their childhood experiences. Schweiger and Graf (2015, p. 16) further added that justice for children has to be conceived as a dynamic concept that begins with functionings—considering that, as children grow up, capabilities become more important. To apply capability to the problem of justice, it is necessary to take into account what functions and capabilities matter to social justice, and to what degree or threshold they must be ensured in order to achieve social justice (Schweiger & Graf, 2015, p. 37). The way in which this can be done is by listening to what children have to say, taking into consideration their perceptions and their priorities, always bearing in mind that all the aforementioned play roles in specific socio-cultural contexts. On the other hand, Gordon (2009), when referring to social justice for children, evokes the ideas conveyed by Sen (1993) regarding the fact that equality in distributive justice should be related to “people’s actual abilities to achieve certain functionings which are of great value as part of their standard of living” (Gordon, 2009, p. 30). In other words, distributive justice should be mainly concerned with what people do, rather than with their economic and social access to goods and services. The author further adds that the lack of literature on social justice for children is reflected in a similar absence of scientific and empirical literature studying poverty in childhood (Gordon, 2009, p. 25).

14

G. Tonon

1.9 Response to Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice for Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latin America, from the Perspective of the Capability approach We have reflected upon the fact that the concepts of children’s social vulnerability and social justice for children show that the capability approach turns out to be a theoretical proposal that enables a research study and analysis of the topic, as well as the creation of public policies in this respect—considering that the twenty-first century has witnessed innovative public policy proposals based on human rights, which allow the possibility of a permanent interaction and adjustment, in accordance with the situations and contexts in which the individuals live (Tonon, 2012). As regards public policies, Drèze and Sen (1995) have pointed out that one of their objectives is freedom, and that the relationship between the individuals’ freedom and the set of activities involved in the exercise of public policies includes the process whereby such policies are decided and the degree of freedom existing in that exercise. Anand et al. (2020, pp. 296–297) expressed that the capability approach has particularly emphasized the importance of public deliberation, as it helps to make a quick identification of a range of deprivations across all areas of life that are potential targets for policy. In this respect, in keeping with the ideas expressed by Iguiñiz Echeverría and Tonon de Toscano (2014, p. 303), the continuous dialog between actors has tended to ensure sustainability in the achievement of the results and, in this sense, public deliberation may be considered as an essential element of the public policy process. According to Sen (2000, p. 66) the improvement of the living conditions of a population, responds to two possible models: economic growth, which implies the enlargement of the economic base in general lines, by expanding social services of general interest; and social policies generated by the governments, which support health, education, and social assistance. Therefore, the quality of life of a population must not only be assessed in terms of achievements in order to obtain vital satisfaction, but also in the possibility of pursuing the freedom to fulfill them. The strengthening of a democratic system constitutes an essential component in the development process, its importance residing in three virtues: its intrinsic importance, its instrumental contribution, and its constructive role in setting values and norms (Sen, 2000, p. 197). It is likewise important to point out that one of the major aims of democracy is to find new ways of reducing inequality (Fitoussi & Rosanvallon, 2006, p. 212). Nussbaum (2012, pp. 196–197) acknowledged the existence of a conceptual link between the idea of central capacities and the role of the State, for he considers that central capacities are the source of political principles that derive in a set of minimally just political institutions. At this point we must consider the concept of social protection system, which Sen (2000) defines as a stable social protection framework, i.e., the State’s fundamental institutional mechanisms, as well as the citizens’ extraordinary support in emergency

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

15

situations. In this respect, Fitoussi and Rossanvallon (2006, p. 113) proposed a social protection system that contemplates the subjects’ biographical trajectories, to prevent the incidents that occur in their daily lives to derive in social determinants. Yet, before referring to the systems of social protection in Latin America, we should revise the predominant inequality in the region. The report on the Social Panorama of Latin America released by CEPAL (2019) shows that social inequality is strongly tied to its productivity systems, which are characterized by high structural heterogeneity and culture of privilege. According to CEPAL (2019), the multiple causes, characteristics, and mechanisms leading to the growth of social inequality in the region may be conceived as a social inequality matrix in which diverse structural factors and multiple dimensions converge. Several types of inequality have been identified, such as socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicracial condition, different stages in people’s life cycles, and territorial inequality. The structuring axes of the social inequality matrix intersect and strengthen throughout the life cycle, thus giving way to a multiplicity of inequality or discriminatory factors which interact simultaneously or accumulate, over time (CEPAL, 2019, p. 72). This list of inequalities has been established in the document on social inequalities in Latin America, derived from the I Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in November, 2016. Specifically, regarding age-based inequality, it was considered one of the determinant axes of the distribution of well-being and power across society, due to the fact that it is one of the basic elements of any social structure for it designates people’s roles and responsibilities (CEPAL, 2016, p. 10). Filgueira and Rossel (2017, p. 69) pointed out that the region presents a relatively strong relationship between poverty and childhood or adolescence and pointed out that Latin American children are more likely to be born in poor households than twenty years ago. With regard to social protection for children in Latin America (CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020b, p. 3) reported that, since the 2000s, the countries in the region have increased their social investment resources (CEPAL, 2019), and though procyclical to economic performance, the increase in investment in social policies seems to have come to a stop, and even experienced a recession in some countries (CEPAL, 2019 quoted in CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020b, p. 3). On the other hand, there has been an expansion of transfer funds programs for families with children excluded from contributory social protection schemes, and who solely rely on the assistance, and child growth and development monitoring provided by state schools. Those are the cases of Argentina and Uruguay, where the articulation of transfer funds programs with child benefits has been in force for a long time (Filgueira & Rossel, 2017, quoted in CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020b, p. 4). Nevertheless, in several countries, those programs are not supported by national Child Benefit Acts, and do not always have stable financial sources, thus generating a sense of uncertainty; besides, there are few cases of automatic adjustment of the length and amount of the transfer funds to ensure purchasing power, over time, in the light of the inflation processes that are constantly afflicting this region (Cecchini & Madariaga, 2011, quoted in CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020b, p. 5).

16

G. Tonon

According to Sen (1999) investment during childhood can improve future capabilities in different ways. In the first place it may directly enrich the lives of adults by making them less problematic, for security in childhood may increase their ability to enjoy a good life. Besides, it furthers people’s ability to earn their living and become economically productive. It is, furthermore, related to social ties, since the ability to share life with others and take part in social activities is also the result of the skills acquired in childhood. The fourth connection has a political connotation, since the success of democracy depends on the citizens’ participation, i.e. a systematic preparation to become active citizens with a right to participation in public decision making since childhood. Children have always been regarded as one of the groups which are most exposed to vulnerability; and, in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, this has become an additional rather than a recurrent situation. The pandemic generated by the spread of COVID-19, and the confinement measures taken to safeguard the population, have certainly affected the children’s well-being in different dimensions, turning them into the main victims of the crisis (CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020b, p. 3). According to Sen (1999) childhood investment is part of the general process of development. The Nobel Prize winner gives the example of child mortality, acknowledging the existence of solid empirical relationships between regular investments on childhood—nutrition, routine vaccination, and childcare—and the substantial drop of the mortality rate in children under 5 years old, when the rate is high. “The reduction of child mortality for avoidable causes may, in itself, be a valuable contribution to the development process, since premature death is a denial of the most basic human right” (Sen, 1999, p. 4). In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become evident that, in Latin America, one third of the households with children lack social protection coverage; moreover, had it not been for the countries’ implementation of emergency measures, non-contributory coverage would have been limited to only one fourth of these households, in a context of deteriorated labour conditions which anticipates an increase of informality and a drop in contributory coverage (CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020b, p. 5). According to CEPAL-UNICEF, until July 10, 2020, Latin American governments had prioritized universal basic income for the most vulnerable families; 199 plans and social protection programs have been identified in 30 countries of this region, in order to offer support to vulnerable households—out of the total amount, 108 were linked to transfer funds in 29 different countries (CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020b, p. 6). Yet, aside from the emergency assistance, it is necessary to consolidate policies that may offer a wider and more permanent answer to children’s needs, considering the levels of vulnerability found in households living in poverty and extreme poverty (CEPAL, 2019; CEPAL-UNICEF, 2020a). In that respect, the Regional Agenda for Inclusive Social Development has pointed out “the convenience and availability of the incorporation of a gradual and progressive universal child allowance” (CEPALUNICEF, 2020b, p. 32), together with the reassurance that the coverage of the social protection systems will adopt a sensitive perspective towards childhood (CEPALUNICEF, 2020b, p. 13).

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

17

Child protection plays an important role in increasing human capabilities and the productivity of society at large, as well as in reducing inequality and the vulnerability of children. Universal transfers and services of good quality are required or, at least, services and transfers that may reach the lower income strata and thus guarantee their access (and reasonable quality) to the neediest (Filgueira & Rossel, 2017, p. 81).

1.9.1 Conclusions In this chapter we show that children have a lot to say and that no one is better qualified to describe themselves, their experiences, and their needs (Benatuil & Laurito, 2016). In order to understand the process of social justice, the concepts of capabilities and functionings are fundamental (Brunner & Watson, 2015, p. 5). Capabilities are the creation of a lifetime, and they must be encouraged and maintained to avoid stagnation (PNUD, 2014). Functionings refer to the state of persons or communities, what they are able to do, and what they are (Anderson, 2010). Capabilities are real opportunities to achieve functionings; they are the set of valuable “beings” and “doings” (Brunner & Watson, 2015, p. 5). An equal society protects and promotes equality of valuable capabilities—the central and important things that people are able to do and to be—so that everyone may enjoy their freedom to live in the ways they choose and value. An equal society acknowledges the individuals’ diverse needs, situations, and goals, and seeks to expand their capabilities by removing discrimination and prejudice and tackling the economic, political, legal, social, and physical conditions that constrain people’s achievements and limit their substantive freedom (Buchardt & Vizard, 2007, p. 3). A capability focus implies the acknowledgment of authentic human well-being, needs, and dignity as the final goal of social policy (Eiffe, 2013, p. 39). The oncurrence of a multiplicity of inequalities is what characterizes hardcore poverty, vulnerability, and social exclusion, causing them to persist and reproduce (CEPAL, 2016). Inequalities and generation gaps, their interrelation and evolution over time, are the key to the analysis and design of public policies (CEPAL, 2016, p. 19). The consolidation of universal social protection systems which are sensitive to children’s rights, and guarantee child allowance, is essential in Latin America. It is therefore necessary to secure adequate levels of social investment, i.e. further reinforcement of child investment plans, in the present moments of crisis (CEPALUNICEF, 2020b, p. 17). Furthermore, the promotion of human capabilities is one of the ways of reducing vulnerability (UNDP, 2014, p. 26). The UNICEF, December 2021 report, proposes that “All governments should identify and ring-fence spending on programs for children, adopting the principle of children being first in line for investment and last in line for cuts” (UNICEF, 2021, p. 29). Latin America has a long way to go if it wishes to transform the current rudiments of a family protection and childcare system into a strong pillar of each of its social states (Filgueira & Rosell, 2017, p. 81).

18

G. Tonon

References Adger, N. W. (1999). Social vulnerability to climate change and extremes in coastal vietnam. World Development, 27(2), 249–269. Anand, P., Ferrer, B., Gao, Q., Nogales, R., & Unterhalter, E. (2020). COVID-19 as a capability crisis: Using the capability framework to understand policy challenges. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 21(3), 293–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2020.1789079 Anderson, E. (2010). Justifying the capabilities approach to justice. In H. Brighouse, & I. Robeyns, I. (Eds.), Measuring Justice. Primary Goods and Capabilities (pp. 81–100). Cambridge University Press. Anderson, R. (2015). A Technical Introduction to World Suffering. Presentation at the International Conference 2014 of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies. https://thesocietypages. org/worldsuffering/files/2017/04/A-Technical-Introduction-to-World-Suffering-1jan15.pdf Anderson, R. (2017). A new framework for suffering-alleviation. https://thesocietypages.org/wor ldsuffering/2017/07/08/a-new-framework-for-suffering-alleviation/ Baughman Anderson, M. & Woodrow, P. (2019). Rising from the ashes: Development strategies in times of disaster. Routledge. First published 1989, Westview Press, Inc. Benatuil, D. & Laurito, M. J. (2016). El bienestar de los niños desde una mirada cualitativa: análisis de un grupo focal. In G. Tonon (Comp.), La investigación en Ciencias Sociales en el Siglo XXI (pp. 141–162). Universidad de Palermo. Birkmann, J. (2006). Measuring vulnerability to promote disaster-resilient societies: Conceptual frameworks and definitions. In J. Birkmann (Ed.), Measuring vulnerability to natural hazards: Towards disaster resilient societies (pp. 9–54). United Nations University Press, Tokyo. Brunner, R., & Watson, N. (2015). What can the capabilities approach add to policy analysis in high income countries. Working Paper, March. What Works Scotland. http://whatworksscotland. ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/workingpaper-capabilities-approach.pdf Burchardt, T., & Vizard, P. (2007). Definition of equality and framework for measurement: Final recommendations of the equalities review steering group on measurement. CASE/120. Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion April 2007 London School of Economics. http://eprints.lse.ac. uk/6218/1/Definition_of_equality_and_framework_for_measurement.pdf Busso, G. (2005). Pobreza, exclusión y vulnerabilidad social. Usos, limitaciones y potencialidades para el diseño de políticas de desarrollo y de población. https://cutt.ly/2dZtJCH Cannon, T., Rowell, J., & Twigg, J. (2003). Social vulnerability, sustainable livelihoods and Disasters. (PDF) Social Vulnerability, Sustainable Livelihoods and Disasters | Terry Cannon and John Twigg—Academia.edu Casas, F. (1998). Infancia perspectivas psicosociales. Paidós. CEPAL. (2016). La matriz de la desigualdad social en América Latina. Santiago. Naciones Unidas CEPAL. https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/events/files/matriz_de_la_desigualdad.pdf CEPAL. (2019). Panorama Social en América Latina. Santiago. Naciones Unidas CEPAL. https:// repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/44969/5/S1901133_es.pdf CEPAL-UNICEF. (2020a, November). Informe Covid-19. Oficina de la Representante Especial del Secretario General sobre la Violencia contra los Niños. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/ handle/11362/46485/1/S2000611_es.pdf CEPAL-UNICEF. (2020b, December). Informe Covid-19. Protección social para familias con niños, niñas y adolescentes en América Latina y el Caribe Un imperativo frente a los impactos del COVID-19. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/46489/1/S2000745_es.pdf Chuaqui, J., Mally, D., & Parraguez, R. (2016). El concepto de inclusión social. Revista de Ciencias Sociales – Número 69 – pp. 157–188. https://revistas.uv.cl/index.php/rcs/article/view/927/890 Cutter, S., Boruff, B., & Shirley, W. (2003, June). Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Social Science Quarterly, 84(2), 242–261. Cutter, S., & Emrich, Ch. (2006). Moral hazard, social Catastrophe: The changing face of vulnerability along the hurricane coasts. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 604, 102–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716205285515

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

19

Cutter, S., Emrich, Ch., Webb, J., & Morath, D. (2009). Social vulnerability to climate variability hazards: A review of the literature. Final Report to Oxfam America. Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, Columbia. https:// citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download, https://doi.org/10.1.1.458.7614&rep=rep1&type=pdf Drèze, J., & Sen, A. (1995). India. Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Oxford University Press. Eiffe, F. (2013). Implications for capability based social policy: A European perspective. In H. Otto, & H. Ziegler (Eds.),Enhancing capabilities. The role of social institutions (pp. 39–52). Verlag Barbara Budrich.https://books.google.es/books?hl=es&lr=&id=ICJpDwAAQBAJ&oi= fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Holger+Ziegler+and+Hans+Uwe+Otto+Enhancing+capabilities&ots=oPr PXAK4Hx&sig=8PdwTdMUl63yTqXH7DuxzmPUVcg#v=onepage&q=Holger%20Ziegler% 20and%20Hans%20Uwe%20Otto%20Enhancing%20capabilities&f=false Filgueira, F., & Rossel, C. (2017). Confronting inequality. Social protection for families and early childhood through monetary transfers and care worldwide. Series Social Policy ECLAC, Santiago, United Nations. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/43158/ S1701242_en.pdf Fitoussi, J., & Rosanvallon, P. (2006). La nueva era de las desigualdades. Buenos Aires. Manantial. Fraser, N. (2008, December). La justicia social en la era de la política de identidad: Redistribución, reconocimiento y participación. Revista de Trabajo, 4(6), 83–95. Gaitan Muñoz, L. (2006). El bienestar social de la infancia y los derechos de los niños. Política y sociedad, 43(1), 63–80. http://www.adcl.org.pt/observatorio/pdf/Elbienestardelainfanciaelosder echosdelosninos.pdf Giménez, G. (2000). Territorio, cultura e identidades. La región socio-cultural. In R. Rosales Ortega (Coordinadora) Globalización y regiones en México. Graf, G. (2015). Conceptions of childhood, agency and the wellbeing of children. The Well-Being of Children (pp. 20–33). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110450521-005 Gordon, D. (2009). Justicia social y política pública La búsqueda de la equidad en diversas sociedades. Mundo Siglo XXI, Número 17. Centro de Investigaciones Económicas, Administrativas y Sociales, IPN, Mexico DF (pp. 15–27). https://repositorio.flacsoandes.edu.ec/bitstream/ 10469/7197/1/REXTN-MS17-02-Gordon.pdf Holand, I. S., Lujala, P., & Rød, J. K. (2011). Social vulnerability assessment for Norway: A quantitative approach. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift-Norweg Journal of Geography, 65(1), 1–17. Iguiñiz Echeverría, J., & Tonon de Toscano, G. (2014). Políticas públicas y libertad. In M. Nebel, P. Flores-Crespo, & M. T. y Herrera, Desarrollo como libertad en América Latina. Fundamentos y aplicaciones (pp. 297–305). Universidad Iberoamericana. Jiménez Ramírez, M. (2008). Aproximación teórica de la exclusión social: complejidad e imprecisión del término. Consecuencias para el ámbito educativo. Estudios Pedagógicos XXXIV, Nº 1: 173–186. https://scielo.conicyt.cl/pdf/estped/v34n1/art10.pdf Liebel, M. (2007). Paternalismo, participación y protagonismo infantil. In Corona Caraveo, Y. y Linares Pontòn M.E. (Coordinadora) Participación infantil y juvenil en Amèrica Latina (pp. 117– 146). Universidad Autònoma Metropolitana, México. Mackenzie, C., Rogers, W., & Dodds, S. (2013). Vulnerability. New Essays in Ethics and Feminist Philosophy. Oxford University Press. Mieles Barrera, M. D., & Tonon, G. (2015). Calidad de vida y niñez. Editorial de la Universidad de Magdalena. Moreno Crossley, J. C. (2008). El concepto de vulnerabilidad social en el debate en torno a la desigualdad: Problemas, alcances y perspectivas. WP9. Observatory on Structures and Institutions of Inequality in Latin America. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Juan-Crossley/pub lication/228382884_Observatory_on_Structures_and_Institutions_of_Inequality_in_Latin_A merica/links/5e6ba37a299bf12e23c320fa/Observatory-on-Structures-and-Institutions-of-Ine quality-in-Latin-America.pdf Murillo Torrecilla, F. J., & Hernández Castilla, R. (2011). Hacia un Concepto de Justicia Social REICE. Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad. Eficacia y Cambio en Educación, 9(4), 7–23.

20

G. Tonon

Nussbaum, M. (2012). Crear capacidades. Propuesta para el desarrollo humano. Paidós Ibérica. Pizarro, R. (2001). La vulnerabilidad social y sus desafíos: una mirada desde América Latina. Santiago de Chile. CEPAL. PNUD. (2014). Sostener el Progreso Humano: Reducir vulnerabilidades y construir resiliencia. Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano. Resumen. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-sum mary-es.pdf Ramirez Velazquez, B., & Lopez Levi, L. (2015). Espacio, paisaje, región, territorio, y lugar: la diversidad en el pensamiento contemporáneo. Geografía para el siglo XXI. Serie Textos Universitarios. Mexico. UNAM, Instituto de Geografía: UAM, Xochimilco. Rodríguez Vignoli, J. (2000). Vulnerabilidad demográfica: una faceta de las desventajas sociales. Serie Población y Desarrollo 5. Santiago de Chile. Centro Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Demografía (CELADE)–CEPAL. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/7185/ S2000937_es.pdf Schweiger, G., & Graf, G. (2015). A Philosophical Examination of Social Justice and Child Poverty. Palgrave Macmillan. UK-USA. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137426024 Sen, A. (1993). Capability and well-being. In M. Nussbaum, & A. Sen (Eds.), The quality of life (pp. 30–53). Clarendon Press. Sen, A. (1999). Invertir en infancia, su papel en el desarrollo. En Romper el ciclo de la pobreza. Invertir en Infancia. Conferencias Magistrales, Washington, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Departamento de Desarrollo Sostenible, División de Desarrollo Social. Sen, A. (2000). Desarrollo y libertad. Bogotá. Editorial Planeta Colombiana. Sen, A. (2009). The Idea of Justice: Introduction an Approach to Justice. 1–33. Siagian, T., Purhadi, P., Suhartono, S., & Ritonga, H. (2014). Social vulnerability to natural hazards in Indonesia: Driving factors and policy implications. Natural Hazards Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 70, 1603–1617. https://doi. org/10.1007/s11069-013-0888-3 Silva, A. (1992). Imaginarios Urbanos. Bogotá y São Paolo: cultura y comunicación urbana en América Latina. Bogotá. Tercer Mundo Editores. Solangaarachchi, D., Griffin, A., & Doherty, A. (2012). Social vulnerability in the context of bushfire risk at the urban-bush interface in Sydney: A case study of the Blue Mountains and Ku-ringgai local council areas. Natural Hazards, 64, 1873–1898. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0334-y Subirats, J. (Director). (2004). Pobreza y exclusión social Un análisis de la realidad española y europea. Colección Estudios Sociales N 16. Barcelona. Fundación La Caixa. https://fundacion lacaixa.org/documents/10280/240906/vol16_es.pdf Tonon, G. (2012). Young people’s quality of life and construction of citizenship, SpringerBriefs in well-being and quality of life research, Series. Springer. Tonon, G., Rodriguez de la Vega, L., & Benatuil, D. (2017). Researching with Children. In Pranee Liamputtong (Ed.), Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Singapore. Springer-Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2779-6_123-1 UNDP. (2014). Human Development Report 2014 Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience. UNDP. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-report-en1.pdf UNICEF. (2021). Reimagine the future for every child. Preventing a lost decade. https://www.uni cef.org/media/112841/file/UNICEF%2075%20report.pdf Williams, Ch. (2008). Compassion, suffering and the self a moral psychology of social justice. Current Sociology, 56(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392107084376

Graciela Tonon Graciela is a full professor of quality of life: theory and methodology and research methods in social sciences, director of the Research Center in Social Sciences (CICSUP) at the School of Social Sciences of the Universidad de Palermo, Argentina. She is also full professor of community social work and children at risk and vulnerability, and director of the Social Institute of Social Sciences UNI-COM at the Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora,

1 Children’s Social Vulnerability and Social Justice in the South

21

Argentina. She obtained her doctoral degree in political science (USAL, Argentina) with postdoctoral studies at the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy, and a master’s degree in political sciences (UMSAM, Argentina). She also has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She has received the ISQOLS Distinguished Service Award for Substantial Contributing to a Better Understanding of Quality-of-Life Studies–2016. She is the editor of the International Handbooks of Quality-ofLife Series, ISQOLS–Springer and the editor of the Book Review Section and member of the Policy Board of Applied Research in Quality of Life, ISQOLS–Springer. She is also the director of the Journal de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Palermo, Argentina; vice-president of publications (2019–2022) of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies and secretary of the Human Development and Capability Association (2016–2022) and fellow (2014–2025). She is the author of 27 books in English and Spanish; she has written many scientific articles and book chapters and has given lectures at universities on five continents. She has also worked for 25 years as social worker with children living in conditions of abuse and poverty. She has recently been appointed as an instructor of the Child Indicator Certification Programme (ISQOLS-MIQOLS).

Chapter 2

Social Justice as a State Policy: Children’s Rights in South America Francisco Lavolpe

Abstract This work examines the concept of Social Justice as a principle of state policy on children’s rights in South America. The proposal to include an idea of Social Justice in the definition of public policy is based on the need to reverse the structural conditions of inequality that adversely affect children in the region and redirect them towards more virtuous outcomes. State policy is anchored in a conceptual framework that serves as the basis for public policy design. Therefore, it is critical to understand the principles governing public policy; that is, the doctrinal synthesis that represents the set of interests, whether transitory or permanent, of society. Children’s rights constitute a special chapter within human rights. In spite of all the progress made in the protection of conditions for the early stages of life, significant inequalities remain in place for children’s integration into social life and the exercise of their citizen rights and duties. As a consequence of such inequalities, South American children are not a homogeneous group and, in this respect, it is not possible to expect equal conditions in the access to and exercise of their rights. Since the advent of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted as an international human rights treaty in 1989, states have undertaken to include the principles contained in the Convention in their state policies. The result of the analysis in this work suggests the need for South American countries to work together towards the adoption of common state policies based on a Social Justice approach that expands all children’s opportunities to fully exercise their rights. Keywords Social Justice · State policy · Human rights · Rights of the child · Inequality

F. Lavolpe (B) Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires, Argentina e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_2

23

24

F. Lavolpe

2.1 Introduction All peoples build their own idea of justice; to realise it is part of the social contract between citizens and the state. Thus, every state policy contains an idea of Social Justice as a core principle for the full exercise of human rights (Sen, 2009). This involves the adoption of a set of agreements on the principles and values governing the political action of institutions for a secure and prosperous social coexistence, within a framework of respect for human rights. Children’s rights constitute a special chapter within human rights. Against this background, considerable progress has been made in the protection of conditions for the early stages of life, regarded as a critical period in the development of the individual, his/her integration into social life and the exercise of his/her citizen rights and duties (UNICEF, 1989). Since the advent of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted as an international human rights treaty in 1989, states have undertaken to include the principles contained in the Convention in their state policies. Indeed, the special treatment afforded to children is based on the recognition of their natural sensitivity to living conditions such as poverty, poor healthcare, malnutrition, lack of safe water, poor housing conditions and environmental pollution. Thus, diseases, malnutrition and poverty, among others, threaten children’s development and, consequently, the future of the societies in which they live (UNICEF, 1989). This work examines the concept of Social Justice as a principle inspiring state policies on children’s rights in South America. The proposal to include an idea of Social Justice in the definition of public policies is based on the need to reverse the structural conditions of childhood and redirect them towards more virtuous outcomes. State policy is anchored in a conceptual framework that serves as the basis for public policy design. Therefore, it is critical to understand the principles governing public policy; that is, the doctrinal synthesis that represents the set of interests, whether transitory or permanent, of society. The principle of Social Justice as a basis of state policy offers the doctrinal groundwork for the social distribution of rights and duties. However, experience shows that this is necessary, albeit not sufficient. In most South American countries, there is a very clear difference between “having” and “exercising” rights, that is, the gap between the formal declaration of rights and the actual social conditions that enable their exercise. Most South American states acknowledge this gap and have striven to include and expand fundamental rights, particularly for women and children. However, the evidence available suggests that the structural features of social inequality in the region continue to hinder the exercise of such rights, thus reproducing inequalities and injustices. As a consequence of this profound inequality, South American children are not a homogeneous group and, in this respect, it is not possible to expect equal conditions in the access to and exercise of their rights.

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

25

The concept of childhood or youth is a social construction that takes place in the historical time in which children live. As a social group, children interact with the environment in which they live and are a product of their own history (Tonon, 2012). The result of the analysis in this work suggests the need for South American countries to implement state policies based on a Social Justice approach that expands all children’s opportunities for them to fully exercise their rights.

2.2 Social Justice The term “Social Justice” was first coined by Antonio Rosmini in his La costituzione secondo la giustizia sociale, published in 1848. The term would become a banner for the defence of the rights of the poorest and most oppressed in society by the Catholic social movement in the nineteenth century and would have a global dissemination with the same meaning in the twentieth century (Hoevel, 2011). The concept of justice provides every society with its most fundamental rule of social order. The relevance of “Social Justice” is a demand addressed to society as a whole and not to the individual, and as such it is a demand that can be met only by the state. To make “Social Justice” into the basic principle of social order is to endorse the wholesale transfer of responsibility from individuals to the state, and inevitably to endorse the expansion of the state and the increase of its coercive powers (Burke, 2011). This approach opens a debate on the scope and limits of the state to guarantee justice. Social Justice is generally understood as the removal of social and economic differences. It is mainly focused on inequalities in income and living conditions. Inspired in this objective, state institutions undertake the responsibility to build a more egalitarian society through redistributive policies. This interpretation of the idea of Social Justice is the foundation of the Welfare State; the equal distribution of wealth and social equality are a responsibility of the state. Thus, Social Justice acquires a greater dimension and inspires the social struggles of the twentieth century against the principles of social organisation emerging from the capitalist production system. In this sense, Fraser (2003) holds that justice can be understood in two different but interrelated ways: distributive justice, which refers to material resources, and the justice of recognition, which concerns issues of identity of social groups (Fraser, 2003). This gives rise to two forms of social injustice: maldistribution and misrecognition. One of the main contributors to the Social Justice approach was John Rawls, who argued that the fundamental problem of a theory of justice lies in the need to find the appropriate principles to realise freedom and equality, once society is conceived as a system of cooperation between free and equal individuals (Rawls, 2019). Rawls grounds his approach in two principles. First, each person must have an equal right to the most extensive system of basic liberties consistent with a similar system of liberties for all. Second, social and economic inequalities must be arranged in such a

26

F. Lavolpe

way that they are (a) to the benefit of the least advantaged ones, in accordance with the just savings principle, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all, under conditions of fair equality of opportunity (Rawls, 2019). Additionally, Rawls establishes rules of priority, related to the exercise of justice, so that: (a) according to the priority of liberty, basic liberties can be restricted only for the sake of liberty, and (b) according to the priority of Justice over Efficiency and Welfare; (b1 ) an inequality of opportunity must increase the opportunities of those having less, and (b2 ) an excessive rate of saving must, according to a prior exam, mitigate the weight of those bearing this burden (Rawls, 2019). According to Rawls, rights and welfare are the foundational bases of Social Justice. The currency of this contribution is expressed in the dilemma facing liberal governments to design state policies. While Rawls does not make an assessment of the different liberties, he establishes priorities in a clear way, citing Isaiah Berlin (Berlin, 1988): One of the tenets of classical liberalism is that the political liberties are of less intrinsic importance than liberty of conscience and freedom of the person. Should one be forced to choose between the political liberties and all the others, the governance of a good sovereign who recognized the latter and who upheld the rule of law would be far preferable. On this view, the chief merit of the principle of participation is to ensure that the government respects the rights and welfare of the governed”. (Berlin in Rawls, 2019, p. 185)

The subject of justice is the basic structure of society, that is, the model on which the main social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties and determine the division of advantages from social cooperation (Rawls, 2019). However, experience in state policies is not always accompanied by principles, let alone priorities. For Amartya Sen, those tasked with state policymaking, vested with public authority, are usually unsure of the grounds for action or unwilling to examine the basis of their policies (Sen, 2011). In this respect, Sen espouses a more comprehensive approach that includes values, emotions, and culture; the idea of justice is a social value and is identified in social issues, such as the role of reason and emotion in public discussion, the type of motivation prevailing in human interaction, collective decisions, the relations between citizens and the state, all of this taking place within the framework of two essential categories: justice and development (Sen, 2009). Sen proposes addressing social injustice based on reliance on reasoning and the invoking of public discussion demands, thus avoiding magic solutions, voluntarism, and simplification. For Sen, cases of injustice can be very complex to assessment; the evaluations of justice are not easy (Sen, 2009). For Sen, global poverty and inequality are a failure of institutional arrangements, that is, of the agreements, disagreements or mistakes leading to state policies, rather than the result of a world conspiracy. The first step for attaining fairer agreements is to build a public debate paying due attention to the problems that hinder comprehensive human development, a worldwide debate with a profound humanitarian vocation that promotes everyone’s interest and involvement. The growing evidence in the environmental field and the challenges for human survival ratify this assertion.

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

27

Needless to say, a major part of the debate on Social Justice clashes with the dilemma between individual liberties and the political function of the state. The naturalisation of social and political inequality was noted by Jean J. Rousseau, who argued that inequality does not derive from divine will, nor is it a consequence of the natural inequality between men, but, on the contrary, its source is the result of the private property of wealth and of the benefits granted by that exercise (Vidal Molina, 2009). Moreover, Sen highlights the challenges for democracy and human rights related to Social Justice and globalisation. Democracy as a form of government is legitimated insofar as it behaves as a system capable of protecting civil liberties. One of the reasons to defend this form of government is its capacity to guarantee greater social equality (Sen, 2009). Similarly, Fraser (1996) argues that Social Justice is a complex concept comprising several interrelated dimensions: the distribution of resources, recognition, and representation. The author holds that justice can be understood in two different but interrelated ways: distributive justice, which refers to material resources, and the justice of recognition, which concerns issues of identity of social groups. Problems related to the distribution of goods and resources essential to life, as well as the different forms of discrimination or exclusion, make up the complex structure in which injustice manifests itself. The existence of deeply rooted cultural elements across societies makes it difficult to agree on an idea of justice. The perception of Social Justice in a scenario of growing global interaction has challenged the categories and values to identify and recognise injustices. An example of this is the task of the universal recognition of human rights. As stated by Cortese, the contemporary structures of racial, ethnic, and gender inequality are rooted in previous societal processes and cultural patterns. These social problems must be understood within their particular historical and cultural context (Cortese, 2004). In this respect, the overcoming of global poverty and other economic and social deprivations has become a priority for global commitment, which makes it possible “to integrate ethical issues underlying general ideas of global development with the demands of deliberative democracy, both of which connect with human rights” (Sen, 2011); in other words, adopting the principles of Social Justice that each people define through debate for state policies to foster progress. According to Sen, the assessment of capabilities-based justice considers that individual demands are not judged in terms of the resources or primary goods held by individuals, but in terms of the freedoms individuals actually enjoy to choose between different ways of living they have reason to value. “Furthermore, cases of injustice may be much more complex and subtle than the assessment of an observable calamity. There could be different arguments suggesting disparate conclusions, and evaluations of justice may be anything but straightforward” (Sen, 2009, p. 4). Finally, the debate on Social Justice should not centre around wealth but around inequality and its associated problems. Social injustice translates into increased

28

F. Lavolpe

violence, social tension and political instability. In the case of children in the South American subcontinent, there is ample evidence of the consequences of social injustice and the full exercise of their capabilities.

2.3 Social Injustice and Inequality in South America The idea of justice is a quick reminder of injustice, that is, all that is considered unjust for society. From the very inception of human socialisation, judgements are made about what is just and unjust, equitable and inequitable at the individual, family and community level. Thus, an idea is built about what is just or unjust and society establishes priorities or strategies to sanction, remedy or change that social construction. In democratic societies, state policies are tied to the idea of what is just or unjust for the citizenry. Therefore, those policies that meet society’s needs and wishes to remedy injustices are more likely to be successful. On the contrary, many policy failures are the result of a misinterpretation of the priorities identified by society. For this reason, the democratic construction of an idea of justice is central to social stability and progress. Thus, we can state that inequality is one of the forms of social injustice, or that the idea of what is just or unjust for a given society translates into different levels of inequality. This is all the more evident in the case of relatively exposed groups or minorities such as children, young and elderly people. In order to provide a general framework for the specific childhood conditions existing in South America, it is worth noting that Latin America is the most unequal region in the world. The wealthiest 1% holds a share of almost 12% of total income, while the 10% at the bottom of the social pyramid merely holds 2.5% of total income. According to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, inequality is a historical and structural characteristic of Latin American and Caribbean societies, which manifests itself through multiple vicious circuits. Indeed, the distinctive feature of inequality in the region is the extraordinary concentration of wealth in the wealthiest 10% of the population. This segment holds almost 40% of total income (38.26%) (ECLAC, 2018). Another aspect worth considering is that of state policies aimed at reducing or halting the different levels of inequality. Public administrations have so far acted as executing units of a set of initiatives and programmes mainly designed and promoted by financing development agencies. No-one can ignore that these aid programmes have managed to curb in part some of the most adverse consequences of inequality and to mitigate the damage that might have been caused to a segment of the population. For example, in South America, some of these programmes have been implemented to address healthcare emergencies, undernutrition or child-related risks (universal child or household allowances). Additionally, one of the main reasons for the implementation of these lines of action is the alarming increase in social instability facing almost the entire continent.

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

29

Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, vast social sectors in the region were involved in multiple popular uprisings. Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia were the stage for street conflicts and social demands based on different reasons and espoused by different ideological movements. However, they shared a common element: the exacerbation of poverty and social inequality. When injustice turns into violence, it is very difficult to estimate the consequences. In spite of the efforts made by states and the policies promoted by development agencies, none of these measures has modified the structural causes of poverty or curbed the widening of the gap in the distribution of wealth. Quite on the contrary, financial aid translates into public debt, which increases fiscal commitments without resolving the structural bases of such injustices. The rise in the public debt of the countries in the region, both with private investors and international financing agencies, does not but condition any development project involving a change in the income distribution structural matrix (Lavolpe, 2020).

2.4 Social Justice and Childhood Conditions in South America The above-described general features of social injustice in South America have a particular impact on childhood conditions. As previously discussed, injustice translates into indicators of violence, child abuse or exploitation, marginality, malnutrition, discrimination and difficulties to access healthcare services and quality education. Thus, in order to ensure children’s rights, it is necessary to implement state policies grounded in the principles of Social Justice emanating from the community itself. As argued by Bonilla (2014), if societies were more equal, the percentage of individuals living in poverty and extreme poverty in their countries should be proportional, at least, to the income per capita. This is not the case in Latin America; on the contrary, a high income per capita is accompanied by an also high extreme poverty rate, which reveals the process of concentration of wealth (Bonilla, 2014). Added to this is the structural nature of the process as, even during the few virtuous phases, the region has been unable to dismantle the hard core of social inequalities and injustices. Particularly in the case of children, the usual considerations about the reasons that result in the violation of their rights are associated with their current life situations and how they condition their future. The limited idea that children are the “human capital” for the future growth of a society undermines any other assessment of the present. Children are children now and their rights should be exercised in the present. Rawls argues that treating individuals as ends in themselves and not as means only involves applying those principles to which they would consent in an original position of equality (Rawls, 1999). The opposite leads to a naturalisation of injustice. Other more limited approaches, such as the contributions of social think tanks, accurately describe childhood conditions globally and in the subcontinent. However, it is hard to find proposals that create a debate around the principles that are at

30

F. Lavolpe

play, that is, the structural bases of a political, economic and social organisation that condemns one out of two South American children to live in poverty, now and ever (Ferrer & Bagnoli, 2016; UNICEF, 2016). Moreover, without Social Justice, social coexistence and institutional stability are at risk. Some recent experiences clearly reflect the fact that the lack of justice leads to social instability, which in turn results in violence, anomie and the consequent risk of a breakdown of the institutional order. The cases of Argentina (2001), Chile (2019), Ecuador (2019) and Colombia (2020), just to mention the most prominent ones, reached the limit of social disintegration and the discredit of democratic institutions.

2.5 Social Justice and Children’s Rights Social Justice comprises three dimensions: distribution (the economic dimension), recognition (the cultural dimension) and representation (the political dimension). These dimensions of justice are relevant to society in general and to children’s situation in particular. The unjust distribution of resources is clearly associated with conditions of social exclusion, material deprivation and access to rights experienced by children. Breen (2006) holds the philosophical premise that children are rights-holders. Implicit in this assertion is the recognition that, although rights are accorded to the child, a lack of capacity may inhibit the child from exercising his or her rights. The Law does not seek to treat all persons equally. Rather, recognition of difference and differential treatment are implicit aspects of those measures that seek to ensure equality in society. Differential treatment only becomes discriminatory treatment once the difference in treatment cannot be justified by virtue of being a legitimate measure whose object and effect are rational and proportionate to the aim of the measure (Breen, 2006). Along the same lines, Social Justice is not to be understood as a redistributive tool only, but it includes the principles of a model of social organisation based on access to the exercise of rights. Such principles inspire the state policies needed to address a critical problematic: the gap between “formal rights”, generally embodied in national legislation, and their effective exercise by all citizens, in particular children. According to Breen (2006), the acknowledgement of differences is what must inspire policies aimed at reducing inequalities and building fairer societies. Child poverty and children’s lack of fundamental rights are framed within a broader international human rights context. Persistent poverty and the lack of access to high quality care are a threat to children’s well-being and healthy development. Added to this is an instrumentalist cost–benefit discourse that conflicts with a rights discourse with a specific emphasis on child care as a human right (Fennimore & Goodwin, 2011). Citizens’ knowledge of their rights and access to their effective exercise are one of the major indicators of the good operation of justice. Citizens with a low educational

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

31

level, excluded from the formal production system, are usually deprived of the full exercise of their rights. The case of children in South American countries is a clear example of this. State policies have failed to reverse the structural inequalities that eventually result in injustice against children. As discussed above, public policies designed to address or mitigate this condition, generally based on programmes fostered by international financing agencies, have yielded partial results. Indeed, direct aid programmes have successfully curbed and on occasion reverted some adverse social indicators, particularly concerning access to basic goods; however, they have been ineffective in addressing other dimensions of children’s rights. Liebel (2013) carries out a detailed examination of Social Justice in connection with childhood and addresses issues that should serve as a basis for the design and implementation of public policy promoting and respecting children’s rights in the field of action in which they are to be applied. Liebel (2013) identifies tensions and contradictions with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly in connection with the experiences of children from different cultures. Liebel’s (2013) studies reveal that the construction of dialogue and mutual respect continue to be children’s main demand at home, at school and in the community, where they feel that their opinions go unheard and that there are no spaces to discuss their needs with adults and the government (Movimiento Mundial por la Infancia, 2011).

2.6 South America: Inequality and Its Consequences on Children Nine out of ten individuals born in poor households will die poor and nine out of ten individuals born in wealthy households will die wealthy. This is a clear description of the weight of initial conditions in order to establish Social Justice parameters. Principles about equal opportunities or equitable conditions are part of the debates for public policy design. For children in South America, the exercise of their fundamental rights is affected by the same gap existing in the social structure: it is the most unequal in the world. According to ECLAC, children’s rights in the region reproduce inequalities that lead to social exclusion, segregation and poverty (CEPAL, 2018). For the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), factors such as the transformation of the family structure, globalisation, climate change, digitalisation, mass migration, changing employment patterns and a shrinking social welfare net in many countries have serious impacts on children. Children’s situation in South America is part of the political debate between growth and development. In South America, periods of growth do not translate into improved social conditions for a segment of society, with the consequent negative impact on children. This is due to the fact that the characteristics of the political,

32

F. Lavolpe

economic and social organisation of most South American countries prevent growth from leading to the equitable development of all social sectors and from reversing the current conditions of poverty, marginality and injustice. According to a recently published ECLAC report, by 2050, nine out ten Latin Americans will live in cities characterised by rising social inequalities, a deteriorated environment and a growing number of individuals living in irregular settlements (CEPAL, 2019). During the first decade of the current century, Latin America had attained notable achievements in poverty reduction. However, starting in early 2010, as a result of the 2008 crisis, this trend was reversed in the region. Between 2014 and 2019, the incidence of poverty in Latin America increased from 27.8 to 30.8%, while extreme poverty rose from 7.8 to 11.5% (CEPAL, 2019). As is well-known, poverty affects children more severely than other age groups. In 2018, 46.2% of the South American population aged 0–14 years lived in poverty, while 18.4% lived in extreme poverty. These rates contrast with the levels recorded for the young population, and the differences widen with respect to the adult and elderly population (CEPAL, 2018). In South America, children’s unequal access to essential goods and services is the flipside of Social Justice. These inequalities prevent a significant segment of South American children from exercising their fundamental rights. Their own condition of vulnerability places children in a critical situation that often undermines human rights. The whole set of policies and programmes implemented by governments does not seem to reverse a trend that replicates the injustices and inequities that characterise the region. A report published by UNICEF (2016) identifies a number of rights for which there are obstacles for their full exercise. The most significant is undoubtedly security; the condition for children not to experience everyday violence, fear or threats. Children in the most disadvantaged sectors of South American society experience many of such situations. In this connection, urban inequalities are rising, with the consequent increase in insecurity. Most of the national capitals in the region are situated in the group of extreme inequality, while at the same time they record the highest rate of inhabitants per square kilometre. Even in South American countries experiencing improvements, inequality in urban areas has continued to rise (UN-Habitat, 2014). These inequalities have a particular impact on childhood conditions. Three out of four Latin American children grow in cities, although many of them have no access to urban advantages (Born & Minujin, 2016). The notable disparity in distribution that characterises urban centres in the region also becomes manifest in the light of other indicators, such as the income ratio between the top and bottom deciles. The average income per capita of households in the tenth decile was 28 times higher than that of the poorest 10% of households between 2007 and 2010. Such ratio also varied significantly between urban centres and between urban centres and countries, ranging from 15 times in Uruguay to 49 times in Brazil (UN-Habitat, 2014). Another issue on the rights agenda is child nutrition, which is one of the most pressing dilemmas facing South American governments. Indeed, while the region as a

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

33

whole is a powerful food provider globally, unequal access to food hits some segments of the population with extremely high levels of undernutrition. South America is a territory blessed by its food production capacity; however, state policies are incapable of attaining a distributive justice that can ensure essential resources for all children’s growth. Even before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 40% of Latin American children lived in poverty, with 16.3% living in extreme poverty. This latter condition is the social determinant that has the strongest impact on health and quality of life globally (Minujin et al., 2017). These obstacles do not affect all sectors equally. Indeed, at the top of the social pyramid, children enjoy the guarantees and full exercise of their rights. At the bottom of the pyramid, a large segment of children coming from poor households lack the conditions, competencies and knowledge to fully access the exercise of their rights. In practice, their rights are violated. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has not but exacerbated these effects on the population in general and on children in particular. The consequences are wideranging and will be borne by children in the coming years. For millions, education and healthcare have been severely restricted or become out of reach, while others have been plunged into a cycle of poverty for life (UNICEF, 2020). As stated above, the particular conditions of inequality, poverty and marginality of South American societies are naturally reproduced and exacerbated with children. For this reason, the possibilities to fully exercise their rights are undermined by significant obstacles. The outbreak of COVID-19 in South America has accelerated and deepened inequality conditions. While the pandemic did not mainly threaten children, the consequences of the lockdown and the disruption of health services and education have had a strong adverse impact on children. In addition, the impact caused by the slowdown in trade and the lockdown, particularly in informal low-income sectors, has had a strong secondary effect on children’s security and nutrition. First, there has been a sharp decline in the use of health services, as a result of their closure or because families have been under confinement or have experienced difficulties or fears to use public transport. For instance, according to available data, two thirds of households with children under 6 have reported that children did not have their medical check-ups and that 28% did not have their vaccines, according to UNICEF’s survey (2020). Likewise, 30% of households rescheduled doctor appointments for their children. Second, as a result of the significant fall in income levels experienced by many households, surveys show adverse effects on children’s nutrition. Almost one third of households with children and adolescents has experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. According to UNICEF’s survey (2020), 28% of households had to stop buying some foods due to income constraints. While the effects of the pandemic do not automatically translate into child undernutrition or malnutrition, if food insecurity persists, an adverse impact on children’s nutrition cannot be ruled out. Third, surveys show the effects on children’s socioemotional state. According to UNICEF’s study, between 16 and 50% of South American children experienced

34

F. Lavolpe

sleep and food alterations. Sedentary habits, anxiety and overexposure to electronic devices are among the main reasons for distress UNICEF (2020). In addition, according to FAO, hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean is at its highest point since 2000, after a 30% rise in the number of people suffering hunger between 2019 and 2020. In only one year, and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people living in hunger rose by 13.8 million, reaching a total of 59.7 million people. Naturally, the impact on children is alarming. In 2021, one out of two South American children is poor and lacks the minimum food needed to ensure a healthy development (FAO, 2021). Four out of ten people in the region experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020, a 9% increase on the previous year and the highest percentage compared with other regions of the world. In 2020, South America had 33.7 million undernourished people, with more than half of them being children (FAO, 2021). Between 2019 and 2020, the prevalence of hunger in the region rose by 2% points, reaching 9.1%, this being the highest percentage since 2000 and a higher percent increase than in other regions of the world. In 2020 alone, the undernourished population in South America reached 7.8%. Between 2014 and 2020, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity rose by 20.5% in South America; the number of people facing severe food insecurity virtually doubled. However, half of that increase occurred between 2019 and 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated the difficulties in providing food and improving child nutrition. As discussed above, South America is a region with high levels of social inequality, which highlights the effects of social determinants on child health and nutrition. For the social groups that are at the bottom of the pyramid, the probabilities of malnutrition in all its forms are significantly increased. According to FAO, the countries with the highest indicators of child stunting are situated in rural areas. These areas have high levels of poverty, low income, a low schooling rate, a higher degree of informal employment, reduced access to services and a higher proportion of indigenous and Afro-descendant population. Added to this are the specific social conditions of the peripheries of urban conglomerates (such as Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires or Santiago), which clearly show the contrasts in the region. Thus, in addition to food security, the undermining of children’s rights is evidenced by the indices of violence caused by overcrowding and poor housing conditions, where children’s living space is under permanent threat. Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact and has brought about more poverty, hunger and food insecurity, posing enormous challenges for malnutrition in all its forms for the coming years (FAO, 2021). Education systems have consequences, too. Everyone agrees that in South American countries it is not sufficient just to provide formal education. Children’s education is another pressing challenge for state policy because it is achieved on the basis of equality of opportunity. How can we provide equal opportunities in an unequal society?

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

35

South American governments have taken measures to encourage regular school attendance and reduce dropout. It is also necessary to remove such barriers as poverty and discrimination and to provide education of sufficient quality, in a manner that ensures that children can benefit from it. Discipline must be administered in a manner consistent both with the child’s dignity and with the right to protection from all forms of violence, thus sustaining respect for the child in the educational environment. The aims of education are defined in terms of the potential of each child and the scope of the curriculum, clearly establishing that education should be a preparatory process for promoting and respecting human rights. This approach is elaborated in the general comments on the aims of education, in which the Committee on the Rights of the Child stresses that the development of education is child centred, child friendly and empowering, and that education goes beyond formal schooling to embrace a broad range of life experiences through which positive development and learning occur (UNGEI-EFA-FTI, 2010). The Committee on the Rights of the Child interprets the right to education as beginning at birth and encourages governments to take measures and provide programmes to enhance parental capacities to promote their children’s development. In South America, this is clearly a challenge for policy makers. Inequalities and shortage of resources prevent those goals from being achieved. A rights-based approach to education (although certainly not without tensions and challenges) has the potential to contribute to the attainment of the goals of governments, parents and children. Girls’ right to education, for example, can be achieved more effectively if measures are also implemented to address their rights to freedom from discrimination, protection from exploitative labour, physical violence and sexual abuse, and access to an adequate standard of living. Equally, the right to education is instrumental in the realisation of other rights. Research indicates, for example, that one additional year of schooling for 1,000 women helps prevent two maternal deaths. In addition, a study prepared by UNDP already warned that as climate change advances, it will bring about setbacks globally. The impact on human development will not be linear; losses in agricultural productivity will reduce income and diminish access to health and education. In turn, reduced possibilities of access to health and education will restrict market opportunities and reinforce poverty. At a more fundamental level, climate change will damage the capacity of the world’s most vulnerable people to make decisions and profile processes that have effects on their own lives (PNUD, 2007).

2.7 Children as Subjects of Rights The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (1989) defines children as subjects of rights; this includes civil and political rights, as well as economic, social and cultural ones. Its basic principles are: (a) the best interests of the child; (b) the

36

F. Lavolpe

child’s right to life, an identity, survival and development; (c) respect for the child’s views, which involves children and adolescents’ citizenship; and (d) the principle of non-discrimination, which entails the non-acceptance of any denial or exclusion on the grounds of race, ethnic origin, gender or nationality. These rights are considered to be comprehensive and indivisible and comprise a single legal, programmatic and policy framework. For this reason, the state, institutions, the community, families and individuals share the responsibility to protect and promote children and adolescents’ rights. Their universal character requires paying special attention to those experiencing social disadvantages and facing more difficulties to exercise their rights. While the nature of childhood and the nature of the legal protection that was afforded to children has been the subject of study for a very long time, it was in the early 1970s that the notion of children’s rights began to be the subject of any significant academic analysis. From there, significant progress has been made for the incorporation of this perspective into different segments of the world population. Indicators show that the case of South America has not acquired the desired proportions. The newly emergent discourse on children’s rights echoed advances made in both the civil rights movements and women’s movement in many jurisdictions in the West. The children’s rights movement was also yet another facet of the long history of the relationship between children and the law, a relationship that had evolved from (dis)regarding children as being nothing more than the property of their parents to recognizing the need for decision-makers to take the best interests of the child into account (Breen, 2006).

2.8 Children’s Rights in South America Although all citizens are recognised as subjects of rights, many are far from having access to their full exercise. In South American societies, this condition becomes particularly acute. While a segment of society has full access to their citizen rights, another large segment lacks the conditions or opportunities for that exercise. In practice, a subculture of marginality deepens the social gap that excludes people from instrumental access or restricts their knowledge of their rights. According to the Convention, children’s rights entail the guarantees to live and thrive, be protected from all forms of violence and exploitation, have access to education and health services and grow up in a clean safe environment. However, as discussed above, state policies in South America not always offer the appropriate conditions for their effective realisation (CRC, 1989). Even before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 72 million children under the age of 14 lived under the line of poverty. This indicator is even higher in urban peripheries and rural areas. In addition, the study revealed that some 2.7 million children under the age of 5 have never been registered, which results in the violation

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

37

of their right to an identity and restrains their access to health and education services, among others. South American reality shows itself unwilling to make progress in this field if it is not accompanied by state policies inspired in the principles of Social Justice. Some periods of success have been marked by discontinuities that hinder the attainment of improvement patterns. Pendular policies between the so-called “populist” and “neoliberal” governments have in many cases undermined the continuity of state policies on children’s protection and rights. Erratic policies, moving between social assistance and spillover, continue to erode opportunities to achieve the objectives of progress. Social Justice is not defined as a dogma, but rather it is the product of a social construction about an idea of what is just or unjust for a community.

2.9 Social Justice and State Policy The need to define Social Justice as a state policy is aimed at mitigating or, better still, resolving the effects on children’s conditions of security, well-being and rights. According to Rawls, justice is realised in institutions when they adopt the principles of liberty, opportunity and equity at the level of state policy (Rawls, 1971–2002). As previously noted, children’s rights are one of the spaces of universal consensus, especially after the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in 1990. However, state policies do not enjoy such consensus. Most policies are designed and funded by international agencies and institutions. These containment strategies are acquired and implemented by states, even when they are not complementary to their national policies. Added to this, the standardisation of aid policies usually disregards cultural diversity and specific needs. The aid of international agencies in the definition of public policy is well known. Two elements can be identified here: one related to the emphasis on the implementation of aid or containment programmes and another concerned with the objective of adopting the principle that children are a means rather than an end in themselves. While international cooperation is, once again, the main instrument to contain or prevent injustices against children, one of the dilemmas at this stage of international organisation is precisely the nature and role of the state in the implementation of successful policies. South American states have had different political dynamics. Some have managed to maintain their stability and the course of their policies for long periods while others have frequently changed their policies, particularly when there is a change of government or in the face of global crises, whose consequences are difficult to bypass. Different projects of reformulation of state institutionality in the region have also brought about a reorientation of some policies (as is the case with policies with a human rights focus), while, on the contrary, certain policies show aspects of continuity despite political transformations in the control of the state (Delamaza & Flores, 2017).

38

F. Lavolpe

Policies that do not ensure children’s access to human rights and guarantee them a decent life are usually supplemented by repressive actions. This is especially true for many South American governments, and results in the criminalisation of poverty, the harassment of children from the most vulnerable sectors and the restriction of their freedom (Belaunzarán et al., 2015). A point of view for state policies is that these core principles articulate a view that every child matters, that the best interests of the child must be at the forefront of policymakers’ minds at all times so that children can realise their full potential, and that children should have the opportunity to contribute to decisions that shape their lives (Todres & Higinbotham, 2016). Childhood deprived of the full exercise of rights is unjust and injustice translates into children-adults. The construction of “childhood” is a recent paradigm. In fact, aside from cultural differences, many children in South America experience a violent passage from childhood into the responsibilities and challenges of adulthood. This becomes evident with the controversial debates taking place in several of the region’s countries about the age of criminal responsibility for crimes committed by children. Social Justice is based on the application of its principles in political institutions and the transformation of economic organisation for the full exercise of rights. The inclusion of the principles of Social Justice in state policy in South American countries is intended to reverse the structural conditions that undermine the exercise of children’s rights and redirect them to more virtuous outcomes.

2.9.1 Conclusions Justice is the basic structure of society. State policies reflect the idea of justice, a social construction that establishes basic agreements for social coexistence. The principles of Social Justice offer the policy elements needed to reverse the current trend towards a widening of the social gap between different segments of the population, with a particular impact on children. A public conception of justice is the fundamental feature of an organised human association (Rawls, 1971–2002). The dimensions of justice comprise distribution, identity and citizenship. No dimension is alien to children’s situation, in particular, the unfair distribution of resources, which is directly linked to material deprivation experienced by children living in poverty. South American children experience a huge gap between having rights and exercising them. The guarantee for the full exercise of their rights is Social Justice; that is, when all children are able to exercise their rights. In order to ensure children’s effective access to security, food, health and education, as well as to their social integration, family care and non-discrimination, it is essential to define state policy objectives based on Social Justice. This means providing children with the material conditions, information and guarantees to exercise their rights. For this reason, Social Justice is a political ideal of democratic societies. The idea of justice cannot be reduced to formal statements only; quite on the contrary,

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

39

it must be translated into the welfare and exercise of fundamental freedoms by the population, in particular children (Minujin et al., 2017). Pendular policies disrupt state policies and turn them into government measures, whose principles of intervention are based on dogmatic or circumstantial positions. From social assistance to meritocracy—even when they yield disparate results—they have all proven to be far from addressing structural reforms based on the principles of Social Justice. The principle of Social Justice is reflected in public policy. Indeed, most South American governments deploy multiple (at times, overlapping) actions to reduce, improve or resolve the problems related to the inequalities and injustices affecting children. However, much is done and little progress is made. “Aid” policies, in their great majority designed, promoted and funded by international agencies, only reduce the damage or mitigate the consequences. Such realities make it imperative to redefine state policies and implement childfocused programmes based on the principle of Social Justice. Guaranteeing the realisation of human rights requires framing them in an idea of Social Justice that includes everyone, particularly children. Universal human interests must be reflected in state policies as part of the progress in their national objectives. Thus, South American governments face the special challenge of ensuring children’s rights in terms of state policies. This involves conceiving Social Justice as part of the universal human interests; providing security, ensuring the conditions for access to essential goods and services and guaranteeing human rights (Adler & Crawford, 1995). Needless to say, the scale of efficiency of state policies is peculiar to each particular country although, as noted above, human rights are grounded in universally accepted principles. Thus, the realisation of Social Justice will be assessed by the ability of the different international actors to coordinate state policies geared to improving the conditions of the region in general and of children in particular. The case of South America is paradigmatic of this need, as there is no evidence that these problems can be overcome other than with common policies. Indeed, the opportunities in which some of the countries in the region significantly improved general life conditions, with particular focus on children, gave rise to migration flows that have destabilised some communities and distorted the efficiency of programmes. In addition, profound crises, as is the case with Venezuela, have resulted in a diaspora at a regional level and created a migration flow that has experienced difficulties for reinsertion, to the particular detriment of children. This institutional matrix, which views neighbouring South American communities as “foreign”, undermines the possibility of coordinating state policies, in particular in connection with sensitive issues on the regional agenda such as those of children and young people. The growing migration between South American states has opened or deepened some citizenship and identity issues for children. Twenty-first century statelessness has significant human-rights repercussions for children in today’s world, jeopardizing their access to fundamental social protections and entitlements that many take for granted (Bhabha, 2011).

40

F. Lavolpe

Thus, it can be seen that children from excluded sectors grow up as “second-class citizens”, deprived of the full exercise of their rights, even when such rights are expected to remedy their condition. The socioeconomic matrix prevailing in South American countries is characterised by progressive processes of fragmentation and social exclusion. The challenge facing state policies lies in the design of institutional arrangements that can change the existing patterns of social injustice and develop systems of child protection, care and access to the full exercise of rights. The inclusion and acceptance of this condition of injustice, almost like a fatal destiny, is the main hurdle to be overcome, as it cuts across South American society as a matter of culture. Communities in South American countries have a pending debate on the Social Justice principles that are to regulate their coexistence. The region is characterised by the convergence of religious, cultural and historical values which, along with its secular democratic institutions, feature a dynamic whose synthesis still fails to display its own identity. The policies of most South American governments have been marked by progress and setbacks. Aid and containment policies have proven to be inadequate in reversing the nature of inequality and poverty. The need to orient state policies towards structural changes grounded in an idea of Social Justice has become self-evident. This puts to the test the strength of democratic institutions to address the urgencies and needs of a highly unequal society. Thus, while children’s universal rights are affirmed, it is only the citizen status that still ensures the guarantees for the exercise of rights. The situation of South American children reveals a common pattern that, aside from particular national nuances and conditions, evidences the need to take action through the implementation of regional policies. For this reason, no structural transformations can be attained with the adoption of national instruments only. The principles of Social Justice come into action through the adoption of state policies, in particular those geared to children’s general welfare. South America has one of the highest indices of children deprived of the full exercise of their human rights. In order to reverse this, state policies must be inspired in Social Justice conceived at a South American level. This is a responsibility of men and women for the children of today.

References Adler, E., & Crawford, B. (1995). Progress in postwar international relations. Columbia University Press. Belaunzarán, L., Bianco, C., Borrego, C., Guzmán Martínez, M., Lambusta, D., Menestrina, M., & Talamonti Calzetta, P. (2015). Niñez y derechos humanos: herramientas para un abordaje integral. Universidad Nacional de La Plata Berlin, I. (1988). Liberty: Cuatro ensayos sobre la libertad. Alianza Editorial. Bhabha, J. (2011). From citizen to migrant: The scope of child statelessness in the twenty-first century. In J. Bhabha (Ed.), Children Without a State; A Global Human Rights Challenge [d1] (pp 1–39). The MIT Press Cambridge.

2 Social Justice as a State Policy …

41

Bonilla, A. (2014). Desafíos estratégicos del regionalismo contemporáneo: CELAC e Iberoamérica. San Josè de Costa Rica. FLACSO-AECID. Born, D., & Minujin, A. (2016). Infancia y desigualdad habitacional urbana en ocho países de América Latina. UNICEF. Breen, C. (2006). Age discrimination and children’s rights: Ensuring equality and acknowledging difference/Claire Breen. p. cm.—International studies in human rights. (Vol. 86). Library of Congress. Burke, T. P. (2011). The Concept of Justice; Is Social Justice Just? Continuum International Publishing Group. Cortese, A. J. P. (2004). Walls and bridges: Social justice and public policy. State University of New York Press. Delamaza Escobar, G., & Flores, L. (2017). El Estado en América Latina: un análisis desde las políticas públicas. Polis, Revista Latinoamericana, Nº 48, 5–10. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo. oa?id=30554026001 FAO. (2021). Panorama Regional de la Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional. Oficina Regional de la FAO para América Latina y el Caribe. https://www.fao.org/americas/publicaciones-audio-video/ panorama/2021/es/ Fennimore, B. S., & Goodwin, A. L. (Eds.). (2011). Promoting social justice for young children advances in theory and research. Springer. Ferrer, M., & Bagnoli, V. (2016). Desafíos urbanos para la equidad en la infancia. Portal Equidad para la infancia—América Latina. http://equidadparalainfancia.org/2016/10/desafios-urbanospara-la-equidad-en-la-infancia/ Fraser, N. (2003). Social justice in the age of identity politics: Redistribution, recognition and participation. In N. Fraser & A. Honneth (Eds.), Redistribution or recognition? A politicalphilosophical exchange (pp. 7–109). Verso. Hoevel, C. (2011). La teoría de la justicia de Amartya Sen y los orígenes del concepto católico de justicia social en Antonio Rosmini. Revista Cultura Económica, 29(81–82), 38–53. https://rep ositorio.uca.edu.ar/bitstream/123456789/2068/1/teoria-justicia-amartya-sen.pdf Lavolpe, F. (2020). Desigualdad y política fiscal; las reformas estructurales pendientes en América Latina, Documento de Trabajo. Instituto de Estudios Internacionales, UNLZ. En https://www.academia.edu/43698908/Desigualdad_y_pol%C3%ADtica_fiscal_Las_reform asestructurales_pendientes_en_Am%C3%A9rica_Latina Liebel, M. (2013). Niñez y Justicia Social. Repensando sus Derechos. Santiago, Chile. Pehuén Editores. Minujin, A., González Contró, M., & Mercer, R. (Eds.). (2017). Tackling child poverty in Latin America: Rights and social protection in unequal societies. Verlag. PNUD. (2007). Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano 2007–2008. La lucha contra el cambio climático: Solidaridad frente a un mundo dividido. https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr_20072008_ summary_spanish.pdf Rawls J. (1999). Justicia como equidad. Materiales para una teoría de la justicia. Madrid. Editorial Tecnos. Rawls, J. (1971–2002). Teoría de la Justicia. Cambridge, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Sen, A. (2009). The idea of justice. Harvard University Press. Todres, J., & Higinbotham, S. (2016). Human rights in children’s literature imagination and the narrative of law. Oxford Scholarship Online. Tonon, G. (2012). Young people’s quality of life and construction of citizenship. Series Springer Briefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research. Dordretch. Springer. UN-Habitat, CAF, Avina. (2014). Construcción de ciudades más equitativas. Políticas públicas para la inclusión en América Latina. Carrera, José y López Moreno, Eduardo (Coords.). https://arc hivo.cepal.org/pdfs/ebooks/Construccion_ciudades_mas_equitativas.pdf

42

F. Lavolpe

UNGEI-EFA-FTI. (2010). Equity and inclusion in education: a guide to support education sector plan preparation, revision and appraisal. United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative. EFA FTI Secretariat c/o World Bank. UNICEF. (1989). Convención de los Derechos del Niño. https://www.un.org/es/events/childrenday/ pdf/derechos.pdf UNICEF. (2016). Una oportunidad justa para cada niño. en: https://pmb.aticounicef.org.uy/ opac_css/doc_num.php?explnum_id=156 UNICEF. (2020). Responding to COVID-19: Annual Report 2020. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Vidal Molina, P. (2009). La teoría de la justicia social en Rawls, Polis, 23, 1–19. http://journals.ope nedition.org/polis/1868

Francisco Lavolpe is a Journalist, Specialist in International Political Economy and MBA (Baltimore University). He is the Director of the Institute of International Studies of Universidad Nacional Lomas de Zamora, Argentina. Previously, Academic Secretary and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Professor at graduate and postgraduate courses in International Relations, Public Opinion and Social Communication. He has been a consultant for the UNDP in Argentina and a freelance collaborator in several media outlets. Actually, he is external evaluator for the National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation of Argentina (CONEAU). He is advisor to the area of international relations of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Chapter 3

Public Spending and Investment in Children: Measuring and Assessing Social and Economic Justice Oliver Fiala and Enrique Delamonica

Abstract A major determinant of poverty and inequality among children is the provision of public services, like health and education, which are crucial to their quality of life. Quantitative assessment of the distribution of public spending on these services and their impact on child poverty is a cornerstone for any analysis of social and economic justice among children. Government spending on social sectors is a strong measurement of the financial commitment governments make to protect and invest in their own people, in particular children. Thus, in this article we address three issues: (i) measurement of public spending in education, health, and direct transfers (cash transfers and near-cash); (ii) the methodological issues involved in this measurement (both in terms of public spending and in child poverty); and (iii) an assessment of the impact on children in poverty and equity. Thus, the chapter deals with how to measure pro-poor public spending. Such analyses measure the benefits an individual or household receive from different public services by linking administrative budget data with nationally representative household surveys. Information on social expenditures (from public budgets) and about poverty and services utilization (from household surveys) exists for over 100 countries. However, comparable data covering at least two of the three sectors (education, health, and social transfers) exist for only 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. An assessment is made in terms of both equity and impact on child poverty. Finally, the relationships between the level and distribution of these expenditures with distributive justice (of public social spending) and children’s quality of life is explored. Keyword Inequity · Inequality · Social justice · Children · Child poverty · Benefit incidence analysis · Pro-poor public social spending

O. Fiala (B) Save the Children, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] E. Delamonica Statistics and Monitoring Child Poverty and Gender Equality, UNICEF, New York, NY, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_3

43

44

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica

3.1 Introduction The provision of public services, like health and education, is important for the realization of child rights and crucial to children’s quality of life. These services are also a major determinant of poverty and inequality among children. Quantitative assessment of the distribution of public spending on these services and their impact on child poverty is a cornerstone for any analysis of social and economic justice among children. Government spending on social sectors is a strong measurement of the financial commitment governments make to protect and invest in their own people, in particular children. Thus, in this chapter we address three issues: (i) measurement of public spending in education, health, and direct transfers (cash transfers and near-cash); (ii) the methodological issues involved in this measurement (both in terms of public spending and in child poverty); and (iii) an assessment of the impact on children in poverty and equity in a group of sub-Saharan countries. The first sections of the chapter deal with how to measure pro-poor public spending, i.e. benefit or fiscal incidence analysis (Sects. 3.2 and 3.3). Such analyses measure the benefits an individual or household receive from different public services by linking administrative budget data with nationally representative household surveys. There are several such sources of data for this type of analysis which can be used to assess the pro-poor nature of public social spending (Sect. 3.4). Information on social expenditures (from public budgets) and about poverty and services utilization (from household surveys) exists for over 100 countries. However, not all this information is available for developing countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Nevertheless, comparable data covering at least two of the three sectors (education, health, and social transfers) exist for eleven countries in Africa, covering around a quarter of the child population in the region. These results are presented in Sect. 3.5 of the chapter where an assessment is made in terms of their distribution and impact on the monetary poor population. Then, relationships between the level and distribution of these expenditures with various outcomes are also evaluated. Examples exploring the impact of public social spending on child poverty are introduced in Sect. 3.6. The relationship between distributive justice of public social spending and children’s quality of life (assessed via child mortality) is explored in Sect. 3.7. Suggestions related to additional analytical and empirical issues and for further analysis are included in the concluding sections (Sects. 3.8 and 3.9).

3.2 Measuring Pro-Poor Public Spending Public spending is critical for putting essential foundations in place for economies to develop and for social justice—foundations such as education, health care, protection from violence, and social safety nets. These foundations are not only merit goods (Musgrave, 1959; Taylor, 1995; Tobin, 1970) but are also human rights

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

45

(Donnelly, 2003; OHCHR, 1997; Quane, 2012; United Nations, 2005, 2006)—rights that are increasingly under threat, especially for children, as governments across the world struggle to manage the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally there has been a focus on the level of government expenditures on social services, as those are crucial to deliver public services, help building a social contract, and make essential investments to improve quality of life for all citizens. But there are challenges understanding how those investments are being distributed to different groups within countries, and therefore how different individuals benefit from social expenditures. A main challenge is the availability of comparable data across countries, despite decades of research and the existence of studies covering over 100 countries. Another challenge is the fragmented nature of the available data, even for the same country. The fragmentation is two-fold. On the one hand there are basically no times series. On the other hand, existing studies may only look at a specific sector, not the whole of social expenditures. Nevertheless, the limited evidence that does exist shows some significant differences. For instance, in a thorough and comparable analysis covering the main three sectors (education, health, and social protection) in 30 countries, explored further below, public spending on social sectors is more focused on richer parts of the population than the poor in one out of four countries. Other studies have shown similar results for decades (e.g. Mehrotra & Delamonica, 2007; UNICEF, 2021a; Van de Walle & Nead, 1995). Pro-poor public spending matters especially for Goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which aspires to end poverty in all its forms everywhere and calls explicitly for sound policy frameworks based on pro-poor development strategies. Thus, evidence and data are needed both to support governments for their planning and decision-making (as they need to understand what the effect of their investments are and who is affected) and to help citizens and civil society to hold duty bearers to account (i.e. to check if governments financing decisions are aligned with poverty-reducing strategies). A new measurement initiative and a recently revised SDG indicator will help to close those data gaps. Within Goal 1 of the SDGs to end poverty, target 1.b calls for “sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions”.1 As part of the 2020 Comprehensive Review, the UN Statistical Commission has accepted a proposal by UNICEF and Save the Children for a revised indicator to measure this target. The new indicator 1.b.1 “Pro-poor public social spending” measures the proportion of government expenditure which benefit directly the monetary poor in education, health, and direct transfers (cash transfers and near-cash). Benefit or fiscal incidence analyses are required to measure pro-poor public spending.

1

UN Global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/indicators-list/).

46

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica

3.3 Methodology to Measure Pro-Poor Public Spending To measure pro-poor public spending, a benefit or fiscal incidence analysis is required. Such analyses measure the benefits an individual or household receive from different public services by linking administrative budget data with nationally representative household surveys. The original methodology has been developed and documented in the 1970s (Aaron & McGuire, 1970; Meerman, 1979; Selowsky, 1979), based on even earlier work carried out in the US and UK as early as in the 1930s and 1940s (Barna, 1945; Stauffacher, 1941). Excellent documentation, training, and data has been produced and collected by the Commitment to Equity Institute at Tulane University (CEQ), including a manual on how to carry out benefit incidence analysis (Lustig, 2018). The incidence analysis attributes monetary value to in-kind transfers (for instance in education and health services). Although, usually for simplicity and ease of calculation, average government costs are used, this is clearly an over-simplification. The unit cost of services is not the same throughout each country, not even within provinces or cities (Mehrotra & Delamonica, 2007). While some of these differences are related to marginalized areas receiving less resources (and poorer quality services) in other cases differential unit costs are warranted (and if the information is available, it should be used in the analysis). For cash and near cash transfers which are part of social protection (e.g. conditional and unconditional cash transfers, school vouchers, child birth grants, unemployment insurance, etc.) the monetary values is used directly. It is quite common that the distribution of benefits varies across sub-sectors such as primary/secondary education, preventive/curative health services, cash transfers/old age pensions, etc. (Mehrotra & Delamonica, 2007). As an example to understand the basic logic of the analysis, let us assume the government spends 100 monetary units on primary education. This information is obtained from budgetary records. It is important, when possible, to use only ex-post, actually spent resources and not planned allocations as often they are different, and to separate capital and recurrent expenditures. Also, from household survey data, it is estimated that children from different income groups attend primary school at different rates. Then, it is possible to distribute school children into different income groups. For example, 10% of the school children come from the bottom income quartile, 20% from the second quartile, 30% are children from the third quartile, and 40% from the top income quartile households. In other words, children from the bottom income quartile only use 10% of the schooling services, i.e. of the government budget allocated to primary education. Similarly, 30% of the primary school budget accrues to children from households in the third quartile. In the context of the SDGs, indicator 1.b.1 focuses on the share of public social spending accruing to those living in monetary poverty (as defined by national definitions which is consistent with SDG 1.2.1). In a way, this is simpler than traditional benefit incidence analysis. Instead of analyzing the distribution of benefits across quartiles, quintiles, or deciles, only two groups are used (the ones who are monetary

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

47

poor and those who are not). In other words, when measuring benefit incidence of social spending, those individuals/households living below to the national poverty line would need to be identified (for instance based on income and expenditure surveys). The rationale for using the definition of the monetary poor based on national poverty lines is that the government spending should benefit poor citizens in their own country. This makes it consistent with SDG 1.2.1 (headcount of poverty based on national poverty lines) and should indeed be read together. Thus, comparing the incidence of spending and the level of poverty allows to directly understand how pro-poor public spending on social sectors is: if the proportion of social spending which benefits those living in poverty is larger than the proportion of the population living below the poverty line, then we would consider this spending as pro-poor (see below). Benefit incidence analyses have been conducted in various contexts and differ in the data sources used, details of practical measurement issues (such as income before or after taxes and/or transfers), and the sector they are focused on. This brings additional challenges in terms of harmonising different data sources and identifying comparable data.

3.4 Data Collection and Measurement There are several sources of data to assess the distributive justice of public social spending. Information on social expenditures (from public budgets) and about poverty and services utilization (from household surveys) exists for over 100 countries. However, not all of this information is easily comparable across countries. Nevertheless, thanks to the work of the CEQ Institute, comparable data covering at least two of the three sectors (education, health, and social transfers) exist for over 30 countries. Most of them are middle income countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, covering more than half of the world population. For comparability with most poverty headcount estimates, poverty is measured at disposable income, that is market/pre-fiscal income plus direct transfers and minus any direct taxes. These countries cover most of the population living in Central Asia and Southern Asia, Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. The underlying household survey data is between 2007 and 2017, with administrative data on budgets usually aligned to the year of the survey (Table 3.1). There are additional globally comparable data sources on benefit incidence. A few cross-country datasets exist on benefit incidence of social spending. Each data set has its own advantages and limitations.

48 Table 3.1 Regions, countries, and population with comparable data across at least two sectors

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica SDG region

Number of countries

Population coverage (%)

Australia and New Zealand

0

0

Central Asia and Southern Asia

2

69

Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia

1

62

Latin America and the Caribbean

15

93

Northern America and Europe

3

44

Oceania (excl. Australia 0 and New Zealand)

0

Sub-Saharan Africa

11

24

Western Asia and Northern Africa

2

16

World

34

55

Source Elaborated by the authors based on data from the CEQ Institute Data Center on Fiscal Redistribution, Tulane University https://commitmentoequity.org/datacenter/

The Atlas of Social Protection Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE) measures the benefits of social protection programs (social assistance, social insurance, and labor market programs) for the poor for more than 100 countries.2 However, the data are reported by income/consumption quintiles. Consequently, more methodological work is necessary to properly compare those with monetary poverty headcounts. Moreover, they only cover spending on social protection. The UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti has estimated the incidence of public spending on education to the poorest children for 42 countries (UNICEF, 2020). The analysis is based on enrolment and expenditure data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and wealth disparities from the World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE). The latter is mostly based on Multi-Indicator and Cluster Surveys (MICS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), especially for developing countries. Those surveys provide an asset-based wealth index, but do not include a consumption or expenditure module. This brings an additional challenge with it, as wealth quintiles from those surveys will not necessarily correlate with poverty measures based on income/consumption surveys. Consequently, these data are also not comparable to monetary poverty headcounts.

2

More information on World Bank ASPIRE: https://www.worldbank.org/en/data/datatopics/aspire; Coverage of ASPIRE database calculated based on World Bank Data (https://data.worldbank.org/ indicator/per_sa_allsa.ben_q1_tot).

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

49

3.5 How Pro-Poor is Social Spending? One possible way to compare those indicators is to calculate the ratio between the population living below the national poverty line and the share of public social spending accruing the monetary poor: if the value is above 1, social spending would be considered pro-poor; if the value is below 1, social spending would be considered regressive. In addition, a higher or lower value can inform us about the extent to which social spending can be considered as pro-poor. The map (Fig 3.1) illustrates this idea for 32 countries for which there are comparable data both for the overall public social spending and a recent estimate for the proportion of the population living below the national poverty line. In 23 countries, social spending could be identified as pro-poor. Moreover, while in a few countries social spending is considerable progressive (the ratio being larger than 1.2) in a handful of them, the ratio is below 0.8. While countries with pro-poor social spending can be found in all world regions, countries with more regressive social spending (with ratios below 1) are predominantly in South America. However, caution is needed when comparing this ratio directly between different countries: while the measure allows to compare the share of spending in relation to those identified as poor, it does rely on different definitions of poverty (as poverty lines are determined nationally). Let us explore further the eleven African countries in the CEQ data set described above (see Table 3.2). They represent about 40% of GDP and a quarter of the population in Africa. The timing of the data sources ranges between 2010 and 2017. Among these countries, the percentage of public social spending accruing to the monetary poor ranges between roughly a third (Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania) and two thirds (Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa). However, to meaningfully interpret those findings, we need to compare those to the population living in monetary poverty, as explained above. Public spending is most progressive in Botswana, where 63% of social spending on health, education, and direct transfers benefit the 19% of the population living in monetary poverty (as measured by national poverty lines). Botswana is followed by Ghana (34% of spending vs. 24% of population in poverty), Namibia (23% of spending vs. 17% in poverty) and Tanzania (33% of spending vs. 28% of population in poverty). Overall spending is also found to be progressive in Eswatini, South Africa, and Zambia, although to lower degrees. Table 3.2 also includes Pro-poor ratios, namely the ratio between pro-poor public social spending and the poverty headcount (as illustrated in Fig. 3.1), which help to assess more easily the nature of pro-poor spending. Information about benefit incidence was obtained from the CEQ Institute Data Center on Fiscal Redistribution, Tulane University while the share of the population living below national poverty line is based on World Bank World Development Indicators and SDG Global Database. We chose to present data on poverty closest to the year of the incidence analysis, although for some countries more recent estimates are available. Estimates on children in monetary poor households are based on Fiala et al. (2021).

50

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica

Table 3.2 Pro-poor public social spending, children in monetary poverty, and progressiveness of public social spending Country a

Pro-poor public social spending

Monetary poverty

Pro-Poor ratios

Total (%)–A

Health (%)

Education (%)

Direct transfers (%)

National headcount (%)–B

Children in monetary poor households (%)–C

A/B

A/C

63

73

62

63

19.3

22.9

3.3

2.8

Comoros (2014/13)

35

52

42.4

47.7

Côte d’Ivoire (2015/15)

32

30

44.4

50.1

Botswana (2010/09)

Eswatini (2017/16)

67

67

66

79

58.9

66.3

1.1

1.0

Ghana (2013/12)

34

32

34

63

24.2

27.4

1.4

1.2

Kenya (2015/15)

34

28

35

48

36.1

41.1

0.9

0.8

Namibia (2016/15)

23

19

24

25

17.4

21.0

1.3

1.1

South Africa (2015/14)

61

58

62

64

55.5

61.9

1.1

1.0

Tanzania (2012/11)

33

33

33

36

28.2

29.8

1.2

1.1

75

80

55.1

59.5

68

54

54.4

57.9

1.0

1.0

Togo (2015/15) Zambia (2015/15)

56

77

a The

first year corresponds to the budget data, the second one is the year of the household survey used to calculate monetary poverty (although there are newer estimates of poverty for Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Tanzania, the surveys closest to the incidence data are used to align them to the pro-poor estimates) Source Elaborated by the authors based on information about benefit incidence obtained from the CEQ Institute Data Center on Fiscal Redistribution, Tulane University https://commitmentoequity. org/datacenter/

In most countries, the proportions of public spending on health or education benefiting the poor are comparable in magnitude to those of total social spending. This is not surprising, given that spending on education and health are often the largest proportion of social spending in countries. However, in Botswana and Zambia, health spending is more pro-poor than the overall social spending (with 73% and

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

51

Fig. 3.1 Countries with comparable estimates of public social spending benefit incidence and their pro-poor situation. (Source Elaborated by the authors based on reported data on population living below the national poverty line as reported in SDG 1.2.1 [World Bank World Development Indicators]. Data on proportion of spending and poverty measurement may not reflect the same year. Information about benefit incidence was obtained from the CEQ Institute Data Center on Fiscal Redistribution, Tulane University https://commitmentoequity.org/datacenter/). Nota Bene: This map is stylized and not to scale. It does not reflect a position by UNICEF or Save the Children on the legal status of any country or area or the delimitation of any frontiers

68% of public spending benefiting the 19% and 54% living below the poverty line, respectively). This is the opposite in Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa, where public spending on health is less geared towards the poor (in comparison to overall social spending). This is the mirror image to the pro-poor nature of education spending: here Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa are seeing public spending on education being more pro-poor, while the ratio is significantly lower in Botswana and Zambia. In almost all countries, the proportion of direct transfers that benefits the poor is larger than the proportion of total social spending. This is not a surprising finding, given that many social protection systems are explicitly focused on monetary poor families. However, what is surprising is that direct transfers are not much higher than other sectors.

3.6 Child Poverty and Children in Monetary Poor Households It is well known that poorer families tend to have more children. Consequently, the proportion of children living in monetary poor households is exceeding the proportion of the total population living in poverty. Fiala et al. (2021) quantify the rates of

52

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica

children living in monetary poor households, using information from household surveys nearly 100 countries to estimate the distribution of children by wealth. A proper comparison between pro-poor spending and children living in monetary poor households requires a child focus throughout the analysis. With headcounts of children living in poor households consistently higher than the headcount for the whole population (up to 22% in Sub-Saharan Africa), at a first glance the ratio between pro-poor spending and the proportion of children in monetary poor households would decrease in all countries. This reduces progressivity of spending in all countries, and in the cases of South Africa and Zambia would even result in spending being pro-rich. However, while this example shows the importance to estimate pro-poor spending specifically for children, we need to estimate the benefit incidence of social spending, which benefits directly and indirectly children. In a child-specific CEQ assessment for Kenya, Save the Children (2021a) found that 43% of child-relevant spending benefited children living in households below the monetary poverty line. This points to slightly pro-poor spending, given that 41.5% were found to live in monetary poor households. Another possible way to assess whether public social spending is pro-poor is to compare it to child poverty. While this is not currently the way how it is defined in the SDG framework, it is important to do so due to social justice considerations—and it should be possible to include formally in the SDG framework in the future. Children are subjects of rights, they are dependent on adults and lack of autonomy, and their needs (and thus elements constitutive of poverty) are different from adults. Thus, it cannot easily be assumed that assessing the impact of public social spending on the monetary poor (an adult-centred and household-based measure) would properly describe the fairness, or lack thereof, of investments in the social sectors. Additionally, there are issues of intra-household allocation related to age and gender. A few words about child poverty measurement may be required, as it less known than monetary poverty. Children experience poverty differently from adults. This is partly because their needs are different (from the type of healthcare they should receive through their dietary requirements to education needs). It is also partly due to their evolving socialization and cognitive (as well as emotional) recognition of shame, injustice, and exclusion. The human rights literature clearly differentiates rights constitutive of poverty from other rights. This does not mean these rights are more important than other ones. It means they are the rights to consider when measuring child poverty.3 These rights are the ones that necessitate, directly and fundamentally, material resources for their continuous realization. These rights constitute dimensions in a multidimensional measure of child poverty. As all rights are equally important, all dimensions have the same weight. Clearly, the measurement 3

Although, in practice, not all surveys include information for all dimensions, the dimensions are: clothing, education, health, housing, information (i.e. material elements to access information), play, nutrition, sanitation, and water. It should be noted some children may need additional or different material resources to realize these rights. For instance, adolescent girls need material resources for managing menstruation safely and with dignity. When available, information on these issues should be included in the measurement.

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

53

of child poverty is carried out at the level of the individual child (not the household, as it is the case with monetary poverty). Analyzing pro-poor spending and child poverty in toto is interesting and important because, as it was explained above, the elements constituting child poverty are, by and large, the ones included in the public social spending lines studied to estimate pro-poor spending. It has to be remembered, however, that child poverty does not include income (and thus cash transfers). Nevertheless, cash within the household could facilitate access and use of social services (e.g., buying school materials, paying for school transport, purchasing additional and more nutritious foods, improving the dwelling etc.). Analysis on the incidence of benefits by (child) deprivation is very limited and more work is needed to increase the evidence-base. In Africa, the exceptions are two recent child-focused CEQ assessments in Uganda and Kenya which shed some lights on the nature of pro-poor spending based on multidimensional child poverty. Cuesta et al. (2021) show that child-relevant expenditures in Uganda are pro-poor, with a child living in multidimensional poverty benefiting from a child budget 19% higher than a non-poor child. Similarly, Save the Children (2021a) shows that the 52.5% of children which are living in multidimensional child poverty in Kenya, benefit from 56.5% of social spending.

3.7 Distribution of Social Spending and Children’s Quality of Life However, the analysis above is not sufficient for appraising social justice because it is focused on money and social justice should entail more than monetary resources. This may seem like a contradiction with the basic premise of this article (i.e. quantitatively assessing the distribution of public spending). On the contrary, delving in outcomes is complementary to the distributive justice issues by focusing on the actual realization of children’s rights and quality of life. So far only distributive equity has been compared to results. However, and bearing in mind the previous limitations regarding linkages between spending and outcomes, it would be reasonable to expect that (abstracting from efficiency) higher levels of spending would promote better results for children. Actually, it would not be just the level but the combination of the level and its distribution. For example, the graphs below show, along the horizontal axis, the level of spending on health (as a percentage of total government spending) and in the vertical one the level of Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR). The U5MR is a natural summary measure of the quality of life of young children, encapsulating issues from mothers’ education to availability of food and on to quality of healthcare (Sen, 1996). While Fig. 3.2 shows national values, the level of U5MR for the bottom income quintile is depicted in Fig. 3.3.

54

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica

Fig. 3.2 Public health expenditure (% of total government spending), U5MR, and benefit incidence (Source Elaborated by the authors based on information in Tables 3.1 and 3.2 and Fig. 3.1 as well as UNICEF [2021b])

Fig. 3.3 Public health expenditure (% of total government spending), U5MR (only for bottom quintile), and benefit incidence 2021b (Source Elaborated by the authors based on information in Tables 3.1 and 3.2 and Fig. 3.1 as well as UNICEF [2021b] and Save the Children [2021b])

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

55

Overall, there is a general downward pattern whereby higher allocation to health expenditure within the public budget results in lower U5MR among these eleven African countries. These is the case both for all the population and the lowest quintile. Similar patterns have been explored for other countries and for different periods (e.g. Minujin et al., 2002). The results described here are in line with other ones. However, it is interesting to notice there are two groups of countries in Fig. 3.2. There are countries where U5MR is at 60 or above. In the other group there are countries where U5MR is around 50 or below. For countries in the first group (U5MR above 60) the average health expenditure is about 4–5%. For the other group, it is almost double. The dotted lines show the median value for U5MR and government expenditure for Sub-Saharan countries (with available data). Moreover, there are four countries in the group where U5MR is above 60. While half of them have pro-poor public health expenditures, the other two are not propoor. However, in the vast majority of countries where U5MR is lower than 50 public health expenditures are por-poor. There is one country where public health expenditures are pro-rich (represented with a white triangle diamond), one neutral country (white circle), and five countries where these expenditures are pro-poor (black cross). The pattern is the same, albeit at higher U5MR values, in Fig. 3.3. While further analysis is needed (including a larger sample of countries and a wider range of child outcomes), this analysis illustrate the importance of not only the level but also distribution of public investments to deliver social justice for children.

3.8 Further Analytical and Empirical Issues The first point to highlight is that one observation in time is not sufficient to assess the impact of public spending due to lags and cumulative effects (this is the case whether the analysis is entered on current or capital expenditures—or both together). Another important aspect refers to social norms and collective behavior. These evolve slowly. They may take time to catch up with expanded social services or there may be ahead of them (these lead/lags may differ per sector even within countries and through time as none of these changes are linear). In addition, analyzing distributive justice issues from the angle of differences across income (or wealth) groups may hide or distort other axes of variations such as geographic or ethno-linguistic ones. Moreover, these axes of disparities are not orthogonal which leads to intersectionality, which is all too often neglected—despite intersectionality having been recognized long ago (Crenshaw, 1989). Another consideration relates to the efficiency of public spending. It is futile to spend more (or advocate to spend more) if spending is wasted. However, in many instances, it is difficult to properly ascertain when spending is really inefficient or if there are good reasons for the presence of higher (perhaps much higher) unit costs in one area or service compared to another one. For instance, per pupil spending may be high in rural areas due the sparse population (and building too few schools or placing them to far away would be a violation of child rights and social justice).

56

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica

Moreover, it is well known that insufficiencies generate inefficiencies. If budgets are constrained and health posts or clinics have no medicines and minimum equipment, there is little impact nurses and doctors would have on the health of children. Similarly, a well-stocked health post of clinic without personnel would do noy much good either. In both cases, “inefficiency” would be observed (i.e. expenditure with little results). However, the reason for the inefficiency is the lack of a minimum of each of the complementary inputs. Rather than reducing expenditure because it is inefficient, it should be increased. The presence of synergies also affects efficiency. As results in any sector depend on the presence of investment in other ones, low efficiency in a sector may be solved by increasing investment in another one (rather than try to make the sector “more efficient”). As an example, it could be assumed that a very efficient school district suffers from very low learning. This low achievement may be due to children being sick often and not receiving proper health treatment. The problem is not the inefficiency in the education system but lack of spending in health systems and in water and sanitation. In turn, these sectors would have better results in the presence of well-educated children and families than otherwise, generating the type of feedback loop that characterizes synergy.

3.9 Conclusion and Suggestions for Further Research The newly revised SDG indicator 1.b.1 allows for effectively measuring SDG target 1.b, which aims to “create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication action”. The indicator allows to measure pro-poor public social spending, which is defined as the proportion of government spending towards health and education and direct transfers which benefit directly the monetary poor. As explained in the chapter, for the first time, data covering more than half of the world’s population can be reported (with a sound and widely accepted methodology and comparable data). Such reporting allows for the type of analysis introduced in this chapter. It has been shown that while public social spending usually benefits the monetary poor, in about one in four countries with globally comparable data, this is not the case. However, when focusing on the sub-Saharan African countries for which information is available, only about half of the countries showed significant pro-poor public social spending result. In addition, the situation is very heterogeneous across sectors. Moreover, given the focus of social transfers on monetary poor households, it is surprising to observe their relatively weak pro-poor impact. Besides the important aspect of distributive justice (in terms of the benefit incidence of public social spending), we have also explored the impact of these expenditures on children. Combining the analysis of budgetary distributions and actual results in terms of children’s quality of life provides a fuller assessment of social justice than either one separately. The evidence of these sub-Saharan countries shows

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

57

that children fare better in countries where governments spend more on and more equitably in education, health, and social protection than in other countries. However, as explained in the text, there are limitation to these results, primarily due to insufficient time trend data, lack of information about efficiency issues, and the presence of synergies among social sectors. At least three lines of future analysis and research can be gleaned from the previous discussion. One of them is the need to combine the distributive justice analysis to encompass other axes of inequality (and intersectionality). In particular, given the salience for planning and policy, it would be important to explore the share of public social spending accruing to different geographic areas within countries. Secondly, it may be worth further disaggregating budget lines and concentrate on social spending for children. In some sectors (e.g. education) this is simple. In the health sector, however, parsing out which budgetary lines are for children’s health as opposed to adult health concerns is more difficult (in some countries, depending on budget practices, it may be impossible). However, this line of future research is not only about distilling within the sectors analyzed in this chapter which portions is relevant for children. It also involves adding other lines of public spending that have not been analyzed so far which are important for children too, such as public spending on sports, cultural and leisure activities, investment in housing and services like water and sanitation, promotion of nutrition, and expenditure in a proper judicial and protective system for children. Finally, the analysis of the impact of pro-poor public social spending on child poverty could be expanded to address social justice concerns more comprehensively. In this the chapter, when analyzing child poverty, only the headcount was considered. However, it is known the headcount only partially captures the plight of children in poverty. It is imperative to be able to associate distributive justice in public social spending not only with how many children live in poverty but also how poor they are and how the poorest among them are faring. Only when fully and equitably funding the needs of all children will their rights be realized and will social justice be achieved.

References Aaron, H., & McGuire, M. C. (1970). Public goods and income distribution. Econometrica, 38(6), 907–920. Barna, T. (1945). Redistribution of incomes through public finance. Oxford University Press. Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics, paper for University of Chicago Legal Forum, Feminism in the Law: Theory, Practice and Criticism. Chicago, Ill., University of Chicago Law School (pp. 139–167). Cuesta, J., Jellema, J., & Ferrone, L. (2021). Fiscal policy, multidimensional poverty, and equity in Uganda: A child-lens analysis. The European Journal of Development Research, 33(3), 427–458. Donnelly, J. (2003). Universal human rights in theory and practice (2nd ed.). Cornell University Press.

58

O. Fiala and E. Delamonica

Fiala, O., Delamónica, E., Escaroz, G., Martinez, I. C., Espinoza-Delgado, J., & Kielem, A. (2021). Children in monetary poor households: Baseline and COVID-19 impact for 2020 and 2021. Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, 5(2), 161–176. Lustig, N. (Ed.). (2018). Commitment to equity handbook: Estimating the impact of fiscal policy on inequality and poverty. Brookings Institution Press. Meerman, J. (1979). Public Expenditure in Malaysia: Who Benefits and Why. Oxford University Press for the World Bank. Mehrotra, S., & Delamonica, E. (2007). Eliminating human poverty: macroeconomic and social policies for equitable growth. Zed Books. Minujin, A., Vandemoortele, J., & Delamonica, E. (2002). Economic growth, poverty and children. Environment and Urbanization, 14(2), 23–43. Musgrave, R. A. (1959). The theory of public finance; a study in public economy. Kogakusha Co. OHCHR. (1997). Fact Sheet No. 10 (Rev.1), The Rights of the Child, United Nations. Quane, H. (2012). A further dimension to the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights? Recent developments concerning the rights of indigenous peoples, Harvard Human Rights Journal, 25. Save the Children. (2021a). Fair Shares? Fiscal equity for children in Kenya, Save the Children. Save the Children. (2021b). GRID, Save the Children’s Child Inequality Tracker, Save the Children (www.childinequality.org). Selowsky, M. (1979). who benefits from government expenditures? Oxford University Press. Sen, A. (1996). Mortality changes as an indicator of economic success and failure. Innocenti Lecture. UNICEF Office of Research. Stauffacher, C. (1941). The effects of government expenditures and tax withdrawals upon income distribution, 1930–1939. In C. J. Friedrich & E. S. Mason (Eds.), Public Policy: A Yearbook of the Graduate School of Public Policy. Harvard University Press. Taylor, C. (1995). Irreducibly social goods. Philosophical arguments, 336. Tobin, J. (1970). On limiting the domain of inequality. The Journal of Law & Economics, 13(2), 263–277. UNICEF. (2020). Addressing the learning crisis: An urgent need to better finance education for the poorest children (https://www.unicef.org/media/63896/file/Addressing-the-learning-cri sis-advocacy-brief-2020.pdf). UNICEF. (2021a). Strengthening the Evidence on the Correlation between Fiscal Equity and Social Outcomes for Children, UNICEF. UNICEF. (2021b). State of the World’s Children 2020, UNICEF. United Nations. (2005). General Guidelines Regarding the Form and Content of Periodic Reports To Be Submitted By States Parties Under Article 44, Paragraph 1 (B), of the Convention, (CRC/C/58/Rev.1). Committee on the Rights of the Child. United Nations. (2006). Frequently asked questions on a human rights-based approach to development cooperation, United Nations. Van de Walle, D. & Nead, K. (Eds.) (1995). Public Spending and the Poor: Theory and Evidence. Johns Hopkins University Press for the World Bank.

Oliver Fiala is a Senior Research Adviser at Save the Children UK. He advises on and produces research and data analysis for policy and advocacy purposes. His work covers a wide range of thematic areas, including child poverty, public finance, child health, education, and child protection—all with a specific focus on inequalities in child outcomes. He is responsible for the development of Save the Children’s Child Inequality Tracker (GRID), to identify those children furthest behind and monitor their progress towards the SDGs and leads Save the Children’s global advocacy work to improve the availability of disaggregated data. Oliver studied at and received a Ph.D. in Economics from TU Dresden, Germany.

3 Public Spending and Investment in Children …

59

Enrique Delamonica Senior Adviser Statistics and Monitoring (Child Poverty and Gender Equality), UNICEF, has written and co-edited books and articles on economic and sustainable human development strategies, child poverty, social protection, the green economy, quality of life, social exclusion and discrimination, and financing social services—always focused on improving the lives of children, adolescents, and their families. He has also taught New York University, Columbia University, the New School for Social Research, and Saint Peter’s College (New Jersey), among other institutions.

Chapter 4

A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being: Considerations for Children’s Rights in the Context of COVID-19 Sabirah Adams and Shazly Savahl Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing global lockdowns have had a substantial negative impact on children’s well-being. Within low-income contexts of countries in the Global South, it has accelerated the vast inequities children experience across all life domains, and has further advanced child vulnerability and neglect. The pandemic has highlighted the crippling effects of further constraints to strained resource systems, with the medium and long-term effects still unknown. The current context of COVID-19, and the historical ‘situatedness’ of the childhood experience in countries of the Global South, brings to the fore a consideration of the notion of social justice. Social justice is a theoretical construct in the field of political philosophy that focuses on the concept of fairness in relations between individuals in society and equal access to wealth, opportunities, and social privileges. In the current chapter, we consider various contemporary theories of social justice. Thereafter, we interrogate the key principles of social justice: access to resources, equity, diversity, participation, human rights. Finally, we consider the extent to which these contemporary theories and the key principles of social justice implicate research on children’s well-being. In particular, we draw on the notion of children’s rights and examine the extent to which the impact of COVID-19 on children in the Global South is a children’s rights issue, and whether the universal response to the pandemic should situate children as a ‘vulnerable group’, warranting special social policy considerations. Keywords Children · COVID-19 · Social justice perspective · Children rights · Global South · Policy

S. Adams (B) Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa e-mail: [email protected] S. Savahl Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_4

61

62

S. Adams and S. Savahl

4.1 Background Social justice is a theoretical construct in the field of political philosophy that focuses on the concept of fairness in relations between individuals in society, equal access to wealth, opportunities, and social privileges. While various scholars have historically contributed to Social Justice Theory, the concept of social justice attracted burgeoning interest after Rawls’ (1971) publication, A Theory of Justice. While there is no consensus on a single definition of the concept of social justice, it is generally understood as a type of justice whereby all people should receive fair treatment and have equal rights and opportunities; with an equitable apportion of societal benefits (Hemphill, 2015). Five key principles underpinning social justice are access to resources, equity, participation, diversity, and human rights. Social justice is considered a moral imperative, whereby nation-states are required to uphold these key principles for all citizens—essentially encapsulating the ‘social good’ (Levin, 2020). The ‘Global Justice Movement’ in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries advanced a socially just world (Hemphill, 2015). However, the array of denotations of social justice has obfuscated the shaping and decision-making for both national and international social policies (Levin, 2020). Rawls’ (1971) key principles of social justice include: comprehensive basic liberties for all; public and private sector positions should be based on equitable affordances for all; and finally, the inequitable distribution of primary goods is only acceptable if it benefits those disadvantaged. Each principle has priority over the next. The latter is referred to as the ‘difference principle’ (Rawls’, 1971). An example of this is the discredited economic theoretical notion of the ‘trickle down’ effect, used to motivate how those in top positions with high earnings is ‘beneficial’ to those disadvantaged. He argued that a society should be evaluated based on how well it treats those who are considered the ‘worst-off’. Notwithstanding Rawls’ (1971) distinct contributions to understanding social justice, his work is not without criticism. Several theorists have critiqued Rawl’s conceptualizations and put forward nuanced foci of the concept. For example, Nozick (1974) underscored fairness through which goods and other necessities are obtained, while Young (1990) maintained that distributive aspects of social justice are merely one component. She highlights the importance of social interactions, and addressing systemic issues and oppression (Craig et al., 2008). Young (1990) was circumspect about treating a nation as homogenous, given differing levels of advantage and inequality amongst social groups. This is of relevance in South Africa that has a history of social oppression, owing to colonization and apartheid. An intersectional approach, focusing on social and cultural constructions, has also been highlighted as a focal area by Fraser (2001) and Lister (2004). Similarly, Craig et al. (2008) argue that Rawls’ (1971) proponents have critiqued his theory. Dworkin (2000) contends that more attention should be placed on ‘individual responsibility’. From his perspective, a justice theory should differentiate between two types of inequality: the first emerges from individuals having varied proclivities and related decisions,

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

63

and the second is outside of the control of the individual (Allingham, 2014; Craig et al., 2008). However, we need to consider this in relation to intergenerational poverty, violence, and trauma (Adams & Savahl, 2022; Savahl & Adams, 2022). In low-to-middle income countries (LMIC’s), individuals are born into particular socio-economic status communities that predetermine their life, developmental, and aspirational circumstances (Savahl et al., 2019). Systemic issues in LMIC’s further constrain and exacerbate inequalities. Dworkin’s (2000) distinction between two types of inequality referred to above point to the classification of the ‘deserving and undeserving poor’ and related welfare provisions. Sen (1985) argued that equality should be appraised in relation to the ‘substantive freedoms’ (real opportunities) one has in order to attain valued outcomes. Fraser (1997; 2000; 2008) is another key proponent in social justice theory. Her theory highlights the importance of redistribution and recognition, as they are not mutually exclusive (Robeyns, 2003). She argues that an inclusive social justice theory should incorporate both redistribution and recognition (Robeyns, 2003). Her concept of ‘bivalent collectivity’ emphasises the socio-economic and cultural components of social justice. It refers to a cohort of people experiencing ‘economic maldistribution and cultural misrecognition’, whereby alleviation in one component will not result in the same for the other. In her view, theories of distributive justice do not adequately address the cultural component, while ‘recognition’ theories are mute on redistribution and economic inequalities. Further, she holds that distributive justice theories solely focus on economic inequalities and are not able to integrate recognition. Fraser’s views have, however, attracted some criticism. For example, Robeyns (2003), considers some of Fraser’s critiques of different social justice theories as unduly harsh. He in fact argues that Fraser fails to acknowledge various theories of distributive justice that address recognition and redistribution, such as that of Rawls’ and Sen’s. He recommends Sen’s (2003) Capability Approach as a way of addressing these shortcomings. Levin (2020) advances two critical questions related to the use of ‘social justice’ for social work. The first asks whether prevailing conceptions of social justice align to the contextual realities of policy and practice development and people’s lives. Therefore, do these conceptions advance discourse reflective of understandings from various social groups (Levin, 2020). The second question considers the implications of a definition of social justice that is based on universal agreement. The literature on social justice is rarely discussed in isolation. Related concepts such as inequality, citizenship, oppression, redress, and rights are often discussed in tandem (Craig et al., 2008; Savahl et al., 2019) Across the theories discussed, inequality is considered distinctly—as either equality of opportunity, outcome, or status. The classification of rights demonstrating citizenship are ‘civil rights’, ‘political rights’, and ‘social rights. Scholars have debated that these types of rights bear different weightings. The relation between rights and social justice is essential in the current chapter as we consider a social justice approach to children’s well-being and rights, particularly from a South African perspective. In the current chapter, we consider various contemporary theories of social justice. Thereafter, we interrogate the key principles of social justice: access

64

S. Adams and S. Savahl

to resources, equity, diversity, participation, and human rights. Finally, we consider the extent to which these contemporary theories and the key principles of social justice implicate research on children’s well-being. Using a child-centred approach, we draw on the notion of children’s rights, and examine the extent to which the impact of COVID-19 on children in the Global South is a children’s rights issue. Moreover, we explore whether the universal response to the pandemic should situate children as a ‘vulnerable group’, warranting special social policy considerations.

4.2 Social Justice and Child Well-Being The terrain of child well-being has progressed substantially over the last three decades. The propagation of the concept of well-being can be located in the work of Jahoda (1958), and more specifically the concept of positive psychological health, and is later evident in studies of quality of life, and happiness (Casas, 1997, 2000; Cummins, 1995), standard of living and health; and the field of social psychology. Similarly, foundations of the concept are evident in Wilson’s (1967) Correlates of avowed happiness (as cited in Diener et al., 1999), Bradburn’s (1969) The structure of psychological well-being, and is later evident in the work of Campbell et al. (1976), and Andrews and Withey (1976) (Savahl et al., 2015). The multi-dimensional measurement of child well-being is located in two research movements in the mid1970’s, namely the social indicators and quality of life (QoL) movements (see Andrews & Withey, 1976; Allardt, 1976; Savahl et al., 2021). The social indicators movement has its genesis in research conducted by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, who on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, explored the impact of the space exploration program on American life. This study provided the impetus and momentum for Bauer’s (1966) Social indicators, a pioneering publication that inspired and advanced the development and use of social indicators A key function of social indicators was to determine and predict trends in social change, and monitor the content and impact of particular social programs across a range of life domains(Casas, 2011; Land, 1983). Social indicators were initially defined as “…statistics, statistical series, and all other forms of evidence— that enable us to assess where we stand and are going with respect to our values and goals…” (Bauer, 1966, p. 1; see also Land et al., 2007). A key contributor to the development of social indicators was the advancement of ‘subjective’ evaluations of different components of people’s lives, to complement existing objective measures for policy decision-making. Relevant social indicators, what Casas (1989) refers to as ‘epistemological instruments’ (Casas, 1989), should monitor and evaluate the ‘social impact’ of social interventions programs (Casas, 1997, 2011). Various types of data were required to provide and assess these ‘complex social realities’ (Land, 2000). For this reason, subjective measures were proposed to complement objective measures (Casas, 1989). In parallel, the concepts of QoL and program evaluation were proposed, in part owing to the significance placed on ‘post-materialist values’ (Veenhoven, 2006). The notion of QoL comprised the

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

65

measurement of ‘material’ and ‘non-material’ (psychosocial) features of life within populations. The non-material aspect of QoL, denoted as individuals’ perceptions, evaluations, and aspirations by Campbell et al. (1976), was then widely endorsed in the field. Similarly, the concept of well-being, used interchangeably in the literature with concepts such as happiness, life satisfaction, subjective well-being (SWB), psychological well-being (Keyes, 1989), personal well-being, and more recently flourishing (Diener et al., 2009) has been ardently debated. Land et al. (2007) notes that the key methods employed in SWB indicators are various social science research techniques that include sample and population-based surveys, in-depth interviews, focus-group interviews, and clinical research to explore children’s understanding of ‘happiness and satisfaction with life’, and the daily life circumstances they experience. The ‘discourses’ and nuances in the concept of QoL are evidence of the varying dimensions of well-being, and the intricate relation between objective and subjective indicators of the ‘good life’ (Ben-Arieh et al., 2014). It provides further impetus that well-being is not synonymous with the traditional indicators of standard of living. This is demonstrated in the ‘tension’ between domains of well-being, and that for example ‘good’ well-being in one domain does not relate to the same in another. The most widely used conceptualization of SWB was put forward by Diener et al. (1999). He made sense of SWB as a component of QoL, comprising a tripartite hierarchical structure including cognitive and affective evaluations individuals make about their lives (Diener et al., 1999; Savahl et al., 2021). The cognitive component encompasses global and domain-based life satisfaction, while the affective component encompasses positive and negative affect. The concept of SWB is rooted in concept of hedonia (hedonic well-being) focuses on life satisfaction, happiness, and SWB, and ‘feeling well’. Medvedev and Landhuis (2018) found that SWB and happiness demonstrate considerable conceptual overlap, and are often used synonymously. Notwithstanding Diener’s widely accepted definition of SWB, Savahl et al. (2021) maintain that questions still exist regarding the structural configuration of SWB, referring to how the different components of SWB fit together. Consistent with the uncertainty regarding the conceptualization of the construct of SWB, the structural configuration of children’s SWB has not been considered in the literature. The study by Savahl et al. (2021) was the first to confirm a model of children’s SWB, comprising global (context-free items assessing overall and general well-being, without referring to a specific aspect of life) and specific (domain-based items evaluating a specific aspect of life) cognitive components, and positive and negative affect. They further assessed the fit structure of an hierarchical structural (second-order) model of children’s SWB. The key finding of the study advances the generalizability of the hierarchical structural configuration of SWB to child samples, and affords a viable model to explore correlates and predictors of children’s SWB, using the full conceptual model. Savahl et al. (2021) therefore propose the tenability of a quadripartite hierarchical conceptual model of children’s SWB.

66

S. Adams and S. Savahl

While there was an upsurge in research on adult social indicators of well-being at the national level within many nations at the time, interest in children’s subjective perspectives did not share this focus (Casas, 1989; Moore et al., 2020). Ben-Arieh (2009) maintains that the development and measurement of indicators of child wellbeing have historically focused on objective indicators related to economic aspects, health, and education. However, three key ‘moments’ provided the impetus for the focus on subjective child well-being indicators, namely the momentum gained from the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Child Indicators Movement (borne out of the ‘social indicators movement’), and the ‘new sociology of childhood’. The State of the World’s Children Report in 1979 (United Nations Children’s Fund) was an important step to advance the universal need to monitor children’s welfare. As Caplan et al. (2016) poignantly note, “social justice cannot be achieved until the rights of all children are realized.” Ben-Arieh et al., (2014, p. 1) maintain that: Rights are implicitly understood as creating well-being or opportunities for well-being, referring to the quality of children’s lives economically and emotionally; to their psychological states; to their material, social, and cultural environments; as well as to their development and to realizing their potentials.

Ben-Arieh (2010) summarizes the nine major shifts in the child indicators movement over the preceding few decades, which emphasized this burgeoning interest on children’s lives: (i) early indicators emphasized child survival, while contemporary indicators focus on child well-being; (ii) early indicators centered on negative life outcomes, whereas contemporary indicators also focus on positive outcomes; (iii) contemporary indicators integrate a children’s rights perspective, and look beyond it as well; (iv) early indicators put emphasis on children ‘s well-becoming, while recent indicators focus on children’s present well-being; (v) early indicators were developed from more ‘traditional’ domains of child well-being, predominantly governed by professions; with contemporary indicators drawn from new interdisciplinary domains; (vi) early indicators focused solely on adult’s perspectives, while new indicators accentuate children’s perspectives; (vii) early indicators examined national geographic units, with contemporary indicators measuring various geographical units; (viii) an increase in the development of several composite indices of children’s well-being in recent years; and finally, and (ix) contemporary endeavors are directed by policy relevance. Therefore, it is essential to collect substantive and consistent data on indicators of children’s subjective well-being (SWB) that are relevant to and reflect the context and daily circumstances that children experience, and the impact on their life trajectory. Children’s SWB comprises various domains. This is supported by empirical qualitative and quantitative research over the past two decades, evincing that children’s SWB is delineated into key domains (see e.g. Fattore et al., 2007; Land et al., 2007; Pollard & Davidson, 2001; Pollard & Lee, 2003; September & Savahl, 2009; Thornton, 2001; Zaff et al. 2003). The different domains of children’s SWB to a large extent align to those identified by Cummins’ (1995, 1996) empirical research with adults (see Cummins & Lau, 2005; Fattore, 2007; September & Savahl, 2009;

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

67

Tonon, 2016–2017). Land et al. (2007) notes that the domains identified in the literature correspond to the seven identified by Cummins (1996), namely: economic and material well-being, health, safety, productive activity, place in community, intimacy, and emotional well-being (Pollard & Rosenberg, 2003). Tonon (2017) adapted the Personal Well-Being Index-School Children among a sample of children in Argentina and found that it worked well in this context. In their work on developing an index of SWB, Rees et al. (2010) identified ten domains: family, friends, health, appearance, time use, the future, home, money and possessions, school, and amount of choice. These domains of well-being have also been used in participation studies with children with children and adolescents in South Africa, which is evident in the work of September and Savahl (2009) and Savahl et al. (2015) who conducted a study with 56 children aged 13 and 15 years from rural and urban geographical locations and found three broad thematic domains of SWB namely: personal safety, infrastructure and environmental context (community resources), basic needs and material resources, and psychosocial well-being.

4.3 Social Justice and Children’s Rights in South Africa Ansell (2014) argues that the notion of rights being an ‘individual property’ implies a responsibility on others. While universal rights have been advanced globally, it has been hampered by the absence of the particular rights an individual should possess and the idea of it being ‘universal’. A social justice perspective on children’s well-being asks us to consider individual children’s rights and the macro contextual and systemic concerns. The focus of research on social justice has emphasized the issue of distributional justice. Widely considered as one important aspect of social justice, scholars from a child-centered perspective and QoL studies concur about the importance of well-being in childhood as influencing well-being in adulthood. Without providing access to basic goods and services, inequities will widen across their life trajectories. Ansell (2014) contends that distributional justice subsumes a ‘liberal worldview’ and presupposes that society is formally equal with a singular ‘moral subjectivity’. Rawls’ (1971) conceptualization of justice underscores the distribution of wealth as well as rights and liberties. However, Young (1990) maintained that the ‘logic’ of distribution is flawed, as it is limited to material aspects—“power, for instance, cannot be redistributed” (Ansell, 2014, p. 8). Importantly, social justice highlights the relationships between people and structural components that molds children’s well-being. Crucially, “Within a society, injustices are not identified through objective calculations, but are recognized in cries of suffering or distress” (Ansell, 2014, p. 9). Therefore, the subjective enduring and perspectives of children experiencing oppression and inequities across various life domains are crucial to consider. This aligns to Savahl et al. (2019) contention that childhood in South Africa, and globally, is not homogenous. Young’s (1990) perspective encompasses social groups, and while she does not explicitly refer to children, based on how a social group is defined children are a significant social group. Within South Africa, we need to consider

68

S. Adams and S. Savahl

children’s contextual realities and how this impacts their well-being across different socio-economic status communities. In South Africa, issues around social justice for children and their right to safety is subsumed within the Children’s Act 2005 (No. 38 of 2005), the related Children’s Amendment Act (No. 41 of 2007), the Child Justice Act (2008), and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Savahl et al., 2019). Children’s rights in the UNCRC are often categorized into three types, namely: provision, protection, and participation; with prevention included in certain instances. Here, (1) provision encompasses children’s right to development (adequate housing, food, education, childcare, play, leisure, arts, and recreation); (2) protection comprises safeguarding children from abuse and exploitation and intervening if either occurs; (3) participation incorporates children’s right to participate in decisions that affect their lives; and (4) prevention includes systems to be effected that protect children from abuse or violation of their rights. Protection and prevention are explicitly related to children’s safety. Child protection refers to the prevention of and addressing violence, exploitation, and abuse of children, which includes commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking, child labour, and harmful cultural practices (United Nation Children’s Fund, 2006). Blair et al. (2015) expands this definition of child safety within their community to take account of children being protected from physical, psychological, or social harm. As Sandberg (2018) notes, in the UNCRC preamble, the family is tasked with the well-being and protecting of its children; and by extension includes the broader family, people within the community, such as friends and other adults, and various organizations. In order to do so, families should be provided with the requisite assistance to care for children. However, echoing Article 9 of the convention, as children need to be protected from violence, abuse, and neglect, separating children from parents or family members that inflict this type of harm on children is necessary. Yet, as the child protection system in South Africa does not function optimally children who are removed from abusive homes are are not necessarily protected from further violence, abuse, or exploitation. As children have been historically marginalized from the social and political realm in this context, the government implemented several commitments to address the dissonant past experienced by children (Savahl, 2010; Savahl et al., 2015). The ratifications and legislative enactments specific to the child have resulted in the “development of the Children’s Act (No. 38 of 2005), the associated Children’s Amendment Act (No. 41 of 2007)”, and the “promulgated Child Justice Act (2008)” (Savahl, 2010, p. 7). Although the determination and dedication of civic and government establishments have enhanced social change and legislative structure, the advantages have not been attained by every child. Evidently, children’s conditions and well-being continue to be unfavorable (Barbarin, 2003). While the government has implemented several initiatives to address the burden of social inequality and deprivation for children and society, most children are experiencing varying levels of poverty, and lack of access to adequate primary health care services, compromised safety, and education, and limited opportunities to engage in safe natural spaces. An important aspect to consider in relation to social justice is that of domination and oppression. Young (1990) defines ‘oppression’ as institutional procedures that

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

69

prohibit particular groups of people from learning and gaining skills, This includes social procedures that inhibits social relationships and freedom of expression. Domination refers to institutionalized circumstances that impedes certain groups of people from decision-making. If one of the five following conditions are met, a social group can be considered oppressed: (1) exploitation; (2) marginalization; (3) powerfulness; (4) cultural imperialism; and (5) violence. Within the South African context, it could be argued that the majority of children are oppressed given infringement of various rights and meeting one or more of the conditions mentioned above. Savahl et al. (2015, 2019) and Ansell (2014) aptly note that children from low socio-economic status communities are most broadly affected by these conditions—this is particularly true in South Africa. The ‘social connection model’ proposed by Young (2006) is also crucial for social justice. This refers referring to the “obligations of justice between persons as a result of the social processes that connect them” (Ansell, 2014, p. 11). According to this approach, those who are advantaged and in power in society, while not directly accountable, must be directly engaged in implementing structures to redress injustice. In order to address historical corollaries of social injustice, an historical account is necessary. Further, a substantial investment for those who have been ‘left behind’ owing to historical racism and oppression is required on multiple levels to address the resulting and ongoing inequities to redress past and current social injustices. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened existing inequities among children and other vulnerable populations in South Africa. Similar trends have emerged from other LMIC. This has ignited rigorous debates about children’s rights and wellbeing, and more recently the social justice imperatives of the pandemic. The current context of COVID-19 and the historical ‘situatedness’ of the childhood experience in LMIC brings to the fore a consideration of the notion of social justice. The pandemic continues to have a substantial negative impact on children’s well-being. Within LMIC, it has accelerated the vast inequities children experience across all life domains and has further advanced child vulnerability and neglect. The pandemic has highlighted the crippling effects of additional constraints to strained resource systems, with the medium and long-term effects still unknown. Akin to addressing the interrelated disadvantaged multiple identities of individuals using intersectionality, we need to consider social justice from a contextual perspective. While broad understandings of what social justice encompasses is valuable as a starting point, ways of addressing social injustice in context is key. Given the targeted disinvestment in the ‘Black’ child for several decades, a disproportionately higher investment in ‘Black’ children is urgently required to redress past and current social injustices. Therefore, it is essential to consider the impact of structural factors on children’s lives and the inequalities that shape (and limit) their futures (Savahl et al., 2015). In this regard, the distinction between ‘social determinants of health approach’ (SDHA) and the broader conceptual framework of ‘structural/social determinants of children’s well-being or outcomes’ is key to scrutinize. The SDHA focuses primarily on child health and health inequities, while structural/ social determinants consider the influence of structural factors on children lives (Bell et al., 2013; UNICEF, 2012). Less concerted effort has been afforded to integrate the structural determinants of

70

S. Adams and S. Savahl

child well-being across all domains of children’s lives, consistently and rigorously. The structural/social determinants of child well-being has not been discussed in conversation with a social justice perspective. There has been contestation around the definitions of structural and social determinants of child well-being in the literature (Spencer, 2018; Victorino & Gauthier, 2009). We argue that a structural/social determinants approach to child well-being enables researchers to examine the intersection of well-being determinants across life stages, including intergenerational drivers of inequity; advancing human rights for social justice and redress (Savahl et al., 2019). This approach also underscores children’s ‘right to be heard’ and participation. Key in this regard is an holistic view on child well-being, comprising objective and subjective domains and aspects of children’s lives. Structural approaches enhance social conditions and circumstances by tackling drivers of children’s vulnerability (Adams & Savahl, 2022). UNICEF (2012) identify structural approaches as having significant untapped potential to enhance child well-being. It highlights the contextual and systemic issues that affect children, including the “economic, political and social systems—in many ways the historical bases for inequity” (UNICEF, 2012, p. 6). The macro (structural) determinants comprising systems, institutions, and processes, influence outcomes via micro (proximate) determinants (individuals, families, communities). For this reason, it is important to consider ‘iterative feedback cycles’, as the various determinants impacting children’s lives are not linear. In this way, pathway analysis is useful, and moreover a ‘life-course approach’. A life-course approach from children’s perspectives is imperative in order to examine their immediate context, looking outwards to other systems influencing their lives. It advances the use of existing models to overcome the narrow focus on particular problems or interventions rather than address structural determinants/elements. By doing so, this will result in ‘sustainable and comprehensive improvements to well-being’ (UNICEF, 2012).

4.4 The Impact of COVID-19 on Children’s Well-Being and Rights: Social Justice Considerations The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe social and economic strife at a global level (Levin, 2020). While various cohorts of the population had a differential experience of COVID, the deleterious impact on children and young people has been especially severe. Emerging research has shown that the pandemic has caused substantial disruption in family life, increased susceptibility to domestic violence, neglect, and compromised safety (Fouché et al., 2020). There is also evidence that the pandemic has caused increased mental health problems, including anxiety and depression (Pascal & Bertram, 2021). Subsequent lockdowns have altered children’s daily activities and time-use patterns and restricted social interactions with friends and family. Children’s education and school attendance have been severely affected (Bhatia, 2020; Bradbury-Jones & Isham, 2020; Caffo et al., 2020; Cusinato et al.,

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

71

2020; Magklara et al., 2020). In South Africa, the impact of the pandemic has been compounded by the harsh realities of high levels of material deprivation and poverty, and loss of family. A recent study found that close to 150 000 children were orphaned owing to COVID-19 related deaths, with 57 400 children who lost their primary or secondary caregiver (Hillis et al., 2021). Given the vast inequities children in South Africa experience across all domains of their lives, the majority of children are exposed to multiple vulnerabilities. The pandemic has therefore brought these socioeconomic disparities into sharp focus, with children from low socio-economic status communities being more severely affected (Adams & Savahl, 2022; Fouché et al., 2020). The stringent nature of the lockdown conditions has compromised children’s right to protection from violence, abuse, and neglect, and access to basic services and resources. The lack of adequate nutrition and a resource-constrained education system further heighten their vulnerability. While the scientific literature suggests that children are less at risk of being infected with COVID-19, they are most susceptible to carrying the burden of the residual effects of the pandemic. Children’s lives and well-being have undoubtedly been severely affected by COVID-19—to the extent that it is fair to consider it to be a children’s rights issue (Adams & Savahl, 2022). While the above points to a growing body of evidence on the impact of COVID19 on children, the short, medium, and long-term impact of this virus on children has become the subject of considerable concern among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers (Barn et al., 2022; Bhatia, 2020; Caffo et al., 2020; Joseph, 2020). There has also only been one published study that explores the impact of the pandemic on children’s SWB. Further to that, children’s perspectives have not been reflected in the scientific literature (Andresen et al., 2020a, 2020b). Research on the impact of COVID-19 on children’s lives and SWB; would provide policymakers and practitioners with valuable information on how to design, develop, and implement programmes and policies to reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on children’s lives (Savahl et al., 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic has permeated and affected all aspects of children’s lives and well-being. While children have largely been exempted from the direct effects of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality (Jensen & McKerrow, 2021), they still face indirect and long-term risks (Pascal & Bertram, 2021). These extenuating circumstances and challenges on children’s subjective perspectives of their lives is not restricted to (LMIC) in the Global South, but also experienced across the Global North. Research focusing on the intersection of the (negative and positive) impact of COVID-19 on children’s daily lives has increased since 2020, across a diversity of geographical and country contexts. The majority of research published on the topic has focused on the influence of COVID-19 on children and parents/caregivers’ health, with parents/adults perspectives as the unit of analysis (e.g. Andrew et al. 2020; Verlenden et al., 2021). This focus has specifically been on mental (Schiavo, 2020) and physical health, and the negative impacts of country-specific lockdowns on children’s education (Ebron, 2021) and parental coping. This has highlighted inequalities (Blundell et al., 2020) in children’s socio-economic resources, access to basic health services, lack of access to equipment for online learning (Andrew et al.,

72

S. Adams and S. Savahl

2020) and the ‘digital divide’, increased vulnerabilities (Adams & Savahl, 2022; Savahl et al., 2021), and lack of social support. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has curated and developed a ‘Children and COVID-19 Research Library’ (https://www.unicef-irc.org/covid-childrenlibrary), which comprises 1656 articles indexed from a diverse range of countrycontexts, on an array of topics related to the impact of the pandemic on children (including UNICEF commissioned Reports and publications). This research base ranges from a focus on children’s access to health services (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) using objective indicators (Jensen & McKerrow, 2021), creating ‘childfriendly’ personal protective equipment in hospital settings (Carter, 2020), transnational qualitative research on children’s narratives of the pandemic in England, Scotland, and New Zealand (Pascal & Bertram, 2021); to more participatory childcentred approaches asking children about their experiences of the pandemic (see Howes et al., 2020; Pascal et al., 2020; Pascal & Bertram, 2021; Singh et al., 2020; Stoecklin et al., 2021). However, the latter focus on children’s subjective perspectives of their well-being during COVID-19 is still emerging. Recently, Stoecklin et al. (2021) explored children’s personal experiences of their well-being in Switzerland, Canada, and Estonia during national lockdowns. Interviews were conducted with 403 children between the ages of 7–17 -years -old, with 229 girls and 174 boys. They found that children’s leisure activities, school life, and life with friends were affected during the lockdown and ultimately impacted on their relational well-being. Family life in particular was found to afford new viewpoints and ‘generational solidarity’. The pandemic lockdown further hindered children’s physical health owing to fewer opportunities for physical exercise, impacted relationships with friends, enhanced feelings of fear of COVID-19, and curtailed opportunities for social participation. A study by Tonon et al. (2021) examined children’s experiences of the COVID-19 lockdowns in Argentina. They found that children had knowledge about what the virus is, as well the impact of the pandemic on children’s lives and their community more broadly. Additionally, the chapter by Tonon and Molgaray in this book, as part of the Children’s Understandings of Well-Being project, also examine children’s well-being during the pandemic lockdown. A rapid review study by Graber et al. (2010) examined the impact of isolation, quarantine, and lockdown on children’s play and identified 15 articles across various sites; while a rapid review by Fouché et al. (2020) assessed child protection and resilience during COVID-19 in South Africa, specifically examining COVID-19 legislation. They found that the COVID-19 regulations may afford protection from abuse and neglect amidst emergency situations, such as the pandemic, and has the potential to advance children’s protection from abuse and neglect. However, they maintain that the nuances and conceptual issues related to child protection should be examined further. Pascal and Bertram (2021) similarly examined younger children’s experiences of the COVID-19 lockdown, with 58 children aged two to four-years -old. They found that children’s ‘play narratives’ point to a need to return to their daily routines with friends, including play time and outdoor activities. They recommend that children’s perspectives be taken into account by policymakers and practitioners in the development of COVID-19-related responses. A longitudinal study by Vogel et al. (2021)

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

73

investigated children’s (9–18-years-old) COVID-19-related ‘worries’, well-being, media use, and emotions amongst children and adolescents in Germany, comparing pre-pandemic baseline data to pandemic data. Using a quantitative design, they found significantly lower scores in children’s psychological and physical well-being during the lockdown when compared to the baseline data (this was more pronounced in low-middle SES contexts). Further, social support scores were significantly lower during the lockdown, and decreased engagement with peers and friends. Children were more concerned about their family’s health than their personal health. There was also a large proportion of children that were concerned about the context of the global pandemic, with a lesser proportion concerned about the virus itself. Haffejee and Levine (2020) employed a participatory qualitative approach (draw-and-write) to explore the impact of the pandemic on children (32 children, mean age 13.5 years) in residential care in Gauteng, South Africa. They found that children were aware of the socio-economic challenges affecting children in South Africa in general, and were worried about the safety and well-being of their family. While children were discontent with the lack of engagement with their family during the lockdown, this was offset by the security of the facility they were living in. Finally, the study by Ravens-Sieberer et al. (2021) was one of the first nationally representative studies conducted with children and adolescents to evaluate health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and the negative mental health impacts of the pandemic. They conducted a self-report online survey with 1586 families, with 1040 participants aged 11–17years. Similar to previous qualitative and quantitative studies, the majority of the participants experienced a ‘high burden’ related to the pandemic, lower HRQoL, and increased mental health concerns and anxiety in comparison to pre-pandemic life. Lower SES, migration, and confined living quarters further compounded these challenges. Based on these findings, they advance that mental health and HRQoL is prioritized for all children and adolescents using a risk-based approach. While there has been increased interest in researching children’s SWB, there is a dearth of comparable data and empirical research initiatives on children’s subjective perceptions of their lives in general (focusing on their living conditions and life circumstances) (Casas, 2011). Traditionally, there has been significant resistance from researchers and policymakers, to consider the opinions of children as reliable and valid (Sandin, 2014); with adults often used as proxies to report on children’s quality of life (UNICEF, 2013). The most important and valid information for studying children’s SWB would be to hear from children themselves; however, research on children’s SWB from their own perspective is limited (Savahl et al., 2021; Strozik et al., 2016). This trend is similarly evident as it relates to research on the impact of COVID on children’s SWB. The available empirical research underscores the challenges and inequities that children face during the pandemic, especially for those in constrained, vulnerable contexts and circumstances. Despite the wealth of literature considering children and the impact of COVID-19, there is a specific gap with regard to engaging with children directly to explore and ascertain their perceptions, understandings, and experiences of the pandemic. Most of the literature, while insightful, draws on pre-pandemic issues affecting children and the likely impact on their daily lives during the pandemic, using anecdotal evidence. More so, there is

74

S. Adams and S. Savahl

only one identified study (see Stoecklin et al., 2021) that explores children’s subjective perceptions of their well-being using a qualitative approach, in the face of the pandemic. Most of the available literature on children’s experiences of the pandemic has been harnessed through adult (parental) proxies. This is a particular concern as adults’ perspectives on children’s experiences of their lives has repeatedly shown to be divergent, highlighting the need to explore children’s perspectives in its own right. While the research by Ravens-Sieberer et al. (2021) is the only current nationally representative study on children’s HRQoL during COVID-19, there is no current research that has focused on children’s SWB in particular, using a nationally representative sample. This information is critical to inform child-centred COVID-19 regulations within the spheres that children engage in. In the South African context, while the pandemic has provided affordances for (some) children’s relationships with family within their household given the lockdowns, this is compounded by potential increases in violence, abuse, and neglect. Given these disruptions to children’s routine, social relationships, and their overall relational and SWB, research that increases our understandings of how South African childhoods have been, and continue to be affected by COVID-19, will provide recommendations on how to address and improve from a policy and practice perspective.

4.5 Social Justice and Social Policy: Considerations for Children’s Well-Being and Rights The realm of social policy is fundamentally focused on social justice (Piachaud, 2008). Within many LMIC’s, social policy development and addressing social justice cannot be examined without considering the destructive, unyielding effects of past racist, discriminatory, and exclusionary policies and structures. However, while a focus of several social justice theories is on distributional justice, a key area not encompassed in this is the distribution of happiness, friendship, and love—which is more difficult to tailor for policy-making (Gordon, 2008). As previously noted, while South Africa has progressive legislation to improve children’s lives, the implementation thereof is lacking. Further, children as a social group of the population are not respected, with their rights violated across various spheres. As children’s basic rights are not upheld, this makes it more challenging to address and mitigate generational social injustices. Therefore, the focus should be on addressing inequities and not merely advocating for equality for all children, as children from lower socioeconomic status contexts are more decisively affected by inequality and poverty. While the conventional route is for political philosophers to develop social justice theories, which are then applied by social policy activists, there is often a mismatch between what is required at a grassroots level. Wolff (2008) elucidates two important concepts to consider in effecting social justice through social policy, namely ‘corrosive disadvantage’ (referring to a disadvantage that results in additional disadvantage) and ‘fertile functioning’ (which boosts further functionings). He emphasizes

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

75

that empirical social science research should be drawn on to determine how best to improve people’s lives, and should be considered as a priority on a governments’ policy agenda (Bradshaw, 2001). One way of addressing this is what Wolff (2008) refers to as ‘status enhancement’, which is altering the society and structural barriers and not the person. This can be achieved through revising laws, public services, social attitudes, and the material context to improve children’s lives. This concept is attractive as it could respond to stigma by not identifying individuals, and used as a strategy to ‘decluster advantage’ in society (Wolff, 2008). Within South Africa, social and contextual factors including children’s rights, perceptions of personal safety and security, material deprivation, time use, living arrangements, experiences of school and community, and socio-economic status, are crucial to consider in addressing social justice. This focus is emphasized in the National Plan of Action for Children (B5. Children and the environment), Africa’s Agenda for Children 2040, and the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), Goal 13 (Climate action), Goal 16 (Peace, justice, and strong institutions), and Goal 17 (Partnerships for the goals). These sub-themes are aligned and contribute to the key thematic focus area (theme 2: human and social behavior) of the Concept Paper: Human and Social Dynamic Grand Challenge (January 2010). This thematic focus area refers to social well-being and the understanding of intergenerational relations. It also considers the importance of ‘childhood’ that was underscored in the Concept Paper’s ‘Outputs of the grand challenge’. The importance of Cabinet’s Guide to Outcomes Approach (Version 1 June 2010), which identifies 12 key outcomes is important to note. Of these, outcome 8 (“improved quality of household life”), outcome 11 (“Create a better South Africa and contribute to a better and safer Africa and world”), and outcome 12 (“…an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship”), especially as it relates to marginalized groups such as children, are relevant to children’s rights and enacting social justice for children. The prominence of family in theories of social justice is undisputed. Family is also consistently discussed in relation to inequality and social justice. It is widely agreed that the family is crucial to a ‘just society’. Brighouse and Swift (2008) argue that the family is essential to a just society owing to the parent–child relationship, but also an impediment given the inequality it yields. The significance of the family is evident in international family policies, and the acknowledgement that the wellbeing of children is largely dependent on the well-being of their family (Mokomane, 2014). However, South Africa does not have a specific family policy which considered a major policy drawback. The essence of the family was severely undermined during apartheid, segregating and oppressing ‘Black’ families. This had major repercussions for intergenerational family relations. A draft policy, the National Policy Framework for Families (Department of Social Development) was then developed in 2001, with the final draft version published in 2005. This drew on the White Paper for Social Welfare, the initial welfare policy to advance welfare in many communities (Department of Social Development, 2021). With the aim of finalizing the 2005 final draft version, the Green Paper on Families was approved by Cabinet in 2011. The first White Paper on Families was developed from this Green Paper. The latest is

76

S. Adams and S. Savahl

the Revised White Paper on Families, which has gained momentum from previous related policy works, and engages with the input and revisions of preceding versions, and stakeholder engagement. Brighouse and Swift (2008, p. 9) note that: A full account of the place of the family in a theory of social justice will not only address the conflict between the familial partiality and distributive equality, it will also consider the way in which social arrangements currently make it much harder for some than for others to realize family values in their lives.

‘Relationship goods’, which is the ‘good’ the family affords children in the parent– child relationship, is important for Brighouse and Swift (2008). Given the potential inequality that can arise from the family that children grow up in, Rawls (1971, p. 511) put forward the contentious question “Should the family be abolished, then?” The importance of the family in social policy and in enhancing children’s SWB was demonstrated by Savahl et al. (2020). The study was conducted using a sample of children in South Africa, and examined the relation between children’s participation in daily activities, engagement with family and friends, and the influence on their SWB. Using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, they found a significant relation between children’s participation in daily activities, engagement with family and friends, and their SWB. Engagement with family and friends and participation in daily activities explained 31% of the variance in SWB, with the former demonstrating a higher explained variance than the latter. Their findings underscores the importance of embedding the family in policy to enhance social justice for children, and in so doing enhance their well-being.

4.6 The Way Forward: Social Justice and Children’s Well-Being in South Africa Savahl et al. (2019) argue that policy effectiveness requires a contextual understanding of social justice and children’s SWB, and a depth understanding of the most appropriate ways to measure it. A substantial improvement in children’s well-being in South Africa necessitates acknowledgement of the historical impact of social injustice, and a profound and disproportionately higher investment in the ‘Black’ child. To lessen the inequalities among children and families in South Africa, children from lower socio-economic status contexts require more material and social investment, which will contribute to upholding children’s rights. Large-scale social transformation and more effective implementation of legislation and policies to improve children’s lives is necessary; this requires full investment from government. Ansell (2014) maintains that to expedite social justice through rights legislation, including the UNCRC, three key aspects are required. First, the contextually related aspects that systematically oppress children should be eradicated. Second, children should be able to “identify / be identified as children in non-essentialist, relational and fluid ways” (p.35) instead of the rigid age boundary of 18-years-old. Finally, duty for safeguarding children’s rights that value social relations and the power of diverse social

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

77

groups contributing to the greater good and well-being of children is key (Ansell, 2014). Further, we strongly recommend that the agenda for research concerning children be set by children themselves. This requires the foregrounding of children’s agentic capacities, and an investment by researchers to develop these capacities (Savahl et al., 2019a). Children’s authentic participation in South Africa has been recognized in some spheres of governance, such as the Nelson Mandela Children’s Parliament, developed by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in response to the Children’s Act (No. 38 of 2005), and children’s continued consultation by the Department of Social Development, including for the National Plan of Action for Children. However, children’s participation is lacking in other governance structures and institutions on issues affecting their lives, which reflects social and cultural framing conditions, ideological understandings, and discourse on childhood in South Africa (Savahl et al., 2015). We need to invest heavily in refining participatory methodologies; particularly, we need to sharpen our skills as it relates to engaging with and obtaining information from children. Given that children are not an homogenous group, especially in terms of their age-related cognitive capacity and cultural diversity, it places an enormous burden on researchers and practitioners in the field. The greatest challenge, however, is the translation of the evidence into effective social policies. When one thinks of social policies related to children, it may be wise to think beyond traditional national policies and legislation, which is often curtailed by a lack of implementation. Targeting policies at the grass-roots level (e.g. municipal by-laws, school policies etc.) to consider children’s voices, and ultimately the implications of their subjective perceptions and experiences would have a greater and more relevant impact on their lives. Researchers should therefore think more broadly and target ‘grass-roots policies’ that are more connected to the daily lives of children (Savahl et al., 2019). We further recommend child rights education in the school curriculum, and community interventions as a vehicle to capacitate and inform children about social justice. Children should be directly and authentically involved in the process of identifying and addressing social injustices in South Africa, which will result in enhancing their overall and domain-specific SWB.

References Allardt, E. (1976). Dimensions of welfare in a comparative Scandinavian study. Acta Sociologica, 19, 227–240. Allingham, M. (2014). Distributive justice. Routledge. Andresen, S., Diehm, I., Sander, U., & Ziegler, H. (2010). Children and the good life: New challenges for research on children. Springer. Andrews, F. M., & Withey, S. B. (1976). Social Indicators of well-being. Plenum. Barbarin, O. A. (2003). Social risks and child development in South Africa: A nation’s program to protect the human rights of children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 73(3), 248–254. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.73.3.248

78

S. Adams and S. Savahl

Barn, R., Sandhu, D. & Mukherjee, U. (2022). Re-imaging everyday routines and educational aspirations under COVID-19 lockdown: Narratives of urban middle-class children in Punjab, India. Children & Society, 00, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12571 Bauer, R. A. (Ed.). (1966). Social indicators. The M.I.T. Bell, R., Donkin, A. &, Marmot, M. (2013). Tackling structural and social issues to reduce inequities in children’s outcomes in low to middle-income countries. Office of Research Discussion Paper No. 2013-02. UNICEF Office of Research, Florence. Casas, F. (1989). Técnicas de investigación social: Los indicadores sociales y psicosociales. Teoría y práctica. PPU. Ben-Arieh, A. (2009). From child welfare to children well-being: The child indicators perspective. In S. B. Kamerman, S. Phipps, & A. Ben-Arieh (Eds.), From child welfare to children well-being: An international perspective on knowledge in the service of making policy. Springer. Ben-Arieh, A., Casas, F., Frønes, I & Korbin, J. E. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of child well-being: Theories, methods and policies in global perspective. Springer. Bhatia, M. (2020). COVID-19 and BAME group in the United Kingdom. The International Journal of Community and Social Development, 2(2), 269–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/251660262093 7878 Blair, M., Sayani, S., & Wortley, E. (2015). Challenges and solutions for the safety of children in the community. Current Treatment Options in Pediatrics, 1, 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s40746-015-0033-5 Blundell, R., Costa Dias, M., Goll, D., Meghir, C., Joyce, R., Norris Keiller., A & Xu, X. (2020). Covid-19 and inequalities. Fiscal Studies, 41(2), 291–319. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-5890. 12232 Bradbury-Jones, C., & Isham, L. (2020). The pandemic paradox: The consequences of COVID-19 on domestic violence. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29(13–14), 2047–2049. https://doi.org/10. 1111/jocn.15296 Bradshaw, J. (2001). Poverty: The outcomes for children. Family Policy Studies Centre/National Children’s Bureau. Caffo E., Scandroglio F., & Asta L. (2020). Debate: COVID-19 and psychological well-being of children and adolescents in Italy. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 25(3), 167–168. https:// doi.org/10.1111/camh.12405 Caplan, R., Loomis, C., & Di Santo, A. (2016). A conceptual model of children’s rights and community-based values to promote social justice through early childhood curriculum frameworks. Journal of Childhood Studies, 41(3), 38–46. Carter, L. (2020). 48 Children’s experiences of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 105, A16–A17. Casas, F. (1997). Quality of life and the life experience of children. In E. Verhellen (Ed.), Understanding children’s rights (pp. 141–149). University of Ghent. Casas, F. (2011). Subjective social indicators and child and adolescent well-being. Child Indicators Research, 4(4), 555–575. Craig, G., Burchardt, T., and Gordon, D. (2008). Social justice and public policy: Seeking fairness and diverse societies. The Policy Press. Cummins, R. A., & Lau, A. L. D. (2005). Personal wellbeing index–school children (PWI-SC) (Cantonese) (3rd Ed,). School of Psychology, Deakin University. Currie, C. et al. (Eds). (2012). Social determinants of health and well-being among young people. Health behaviour in school-aged children (HBSC) study: International report from the 2009/2010 survey. WHO Regional Office for Europe (Health Policy for Children and Adolescents, No. 6). Cusinato, M., Iannattone, S., Spoto, A., Poli, M., Moretti, C., Gatta, M., & Miscioscia, M. (2020). Stress, resilience, and well-being in Italian children and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 8297. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph 17228297 Department of Social Development (Republic of South Africa). (2021). Revised White Paper on Families in South Africa (31 March). Republic of South Africa.

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

79

Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276–302. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276 Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2009). New measures of well-being: Flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 39, 247–266. Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). New Well-Being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9493-y Dworkin, R. (2000). Sovereign virtue: The theory and practice of equality. Harvard University Press. Ebron, K. (2021). Leave no one behind: COVID-19 and its impact on childcare and education in urban areas. Cities & Health, 5(1), S105–S111. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2021.1907499 Fattore, T., Mason, J., & Watson, E. (2007). Children’s conceptualisation(s) of their well-being. Social Indicators Research, 80, 5–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-9019-9 Fouché, A., Fouché, D. F., & Theron, L. C. (2020). Child protection and resilience in the face of COVID-19 in South Africa: A rapid review of C-19 legislation. Child Abuse & Neglect, https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104710 Fraser, N. (2001). Recognition without ethics?’. Theory, Culture and Society, 18(2–3), 21–42. Gordon, L. R. (2008). An introduction to Africana philosophy. Cambridge University Press. Hemphill, B. (2015). Social justice as a moral imperative. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 3(2), 1–7. Hillis, S. D., Unwin, H. J. T., Chen, Y., Cluver, L., Sherr, L., Goldman, P. S., Ratmann, O., Donnelly, C. A., Bhatt, S., Villaveces, A., Butchart, A., Bachman, G., Rawlings, L., Green, P., Nelson, C.A. & Flaxman, S. (2021). Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers: A modelling study. Lancet, 31, 398(10298), 391–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01253-8. Howes, S., R. Monk-Winstanley, T. Sefton, & A. Woudhuysen. (2020). Poverty in the Pandemic: The Impact of Coronavirus on Low Income Families and Children. Child Poverty Action Group. Jensen, C., & McKerrow, N. H. (2021). Child health services during a COVID-19 outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. South African Medical Journal, 111(2), 114–119. https:// doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2021.v111i2.15243 Joseph, S. (2020). Isolation and mental health: The psychological impact of COVID-19 lockdown on children. Mukt Shabd Journal, 9(8), 399–405. Land, K. C. (1983). Social Indicators. Annual Review of Sociology, 9, 1–26. Land, K. (2000). Social indicators. In E. F. Borgatta, & R. V. Montgomery (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sociology (pp. 2682–2690). Macmillan. Land, K. C., Lamb, V. L., Meadows, S. O., & Taylor, A. (2007). Measuring trends in child well-being: An evidence-based approach. Social Indicators Research, 80, 105–132. Levin, L. (2020). Rethinking social justice: A contemporary challenge for social good. Research on Social Work Practice, 30(2), 186–195. Lister, R. (2004). Poverty. Polity Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731519854161 Magklara, K., Lazaratou, H., Barbouni, A., Poulas, K., & Farsalino, K. (2020). Impact of COVID19 pandemic and lockdown measures on mental health of children and adolescents in Greece. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.18.20214643 Medvedev, O. N., & Landhuis, C. E. (2018). Exploring constructs of well-being, happiness and quality of life. Peer Journal, 6, e4903. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4903 Mokomane, Z. (2014). Family Policy in South Africa. In: Robila, M. (eds) Handbook of Family Policies Across the Globe. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6771-7_5 Moore, S. A., Faulkner, G., Rhodes, R. E., Brussoni, M., Chulak-Bozzer, T., Ferguson, L. J., Mitra, R., O’Reilly, N., Spence, J. C., Vanderloo, L.M., & Tremblay, M. S. (2020). Impact of the COVID19 virus outbreak on movement and play behaviours of Canadian children and youth: a national survey. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 17(1), 1–11. https:// doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-00987-8

80

S. Adams and S. Savahl

Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, state and utopia. Blackwell. Pascal, C., T. Bertram, C. Cullinane, & E. Holt-White. (2020). COVID-19 and Social Mobility Impact Brief #4: Early Years. Sutton Trust. Pascal, C., & Bertram, T. (2021). What do young children have to say? Recognising their voices, wisdom, agency and need for companionship during the COVID pandemic. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 291, 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2021. 1872676 Piachaud, D. (2008). Social justice and public policy: a social policy perspective. In: Craig, Gary, Burchardt, Tania and Gordon, David, (Eds.) Social Justice and Public Policy: Seeking Fairness in Diverse Societies. (pp. 33-52). Policy Press. Pollard, E. L., & Davidson, L. (2001). Foundations of child well-being. Action Research in Family and Early Childhood. UNESCO Education Sector Monograph. Pollard, E. L., & Lee, P. D. (2003). Child well-being: A systematic review of the literature. Social Indicators Research, 61(1), 59–78. Pollard, E., & Rosenberg, M. (2003). The Strength-Based Approach to Child Well-Being: Let’s Begin with the End in Mind. In M. Bornstein, & L. Davidson (Eds.), Well-Being: Positive Development across the Life Course (pp. 13-32). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Ravens-Sieberer, U., Kaman, A., Erhart, M. Otto, C., Devine, J., Löffler, C., Hurrelmann, K., Bullinger, M., Barkmann, C., Siegel, N. A., Simon, A. M., Wieler, L. H., Schlack, R., & Hölling, H. (2021). Quality of life and mental health in children and adolescents during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: results of a two-wave nationwide population-based study. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01889-1 Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice. Oxford University Press. Rees, G., Bradshaw, J., Goswami, H., & Keung, A. (2010). Understanding children’s well-being: A national survey of young people’s well-being. The Children’s Society. Sandin, B. (2014). History of children’s well-being. In A. Ben-Arieh, F. Casas, I. Frones, & J. E. Korbin (Eds.), Handbook of Child Well-Being: Theories, Methods and Policies in Global Perspective. (pp. 31-86). Springer. Savahl, S., Adams, S., Benninger, E., Florence, M., Manuel, D., Mpilo, M., Bawa, U., & Isobell, D. (2019). Researching children’s subjective well-being in South Africa: Considerations for method, theory and social policy. In I. Eloff (Ed.), Quality-of-life in African societies (pp. 407–430). Springer. Savahl, S. (2010). Ideological constructions of Childhood. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of the Western Cape: Bellville. Savahl, S., Casas, F., & Adams, S. (2015). Validation of the children’s hope scale amongst a sample of adolescents in the western cape region of South Africa. Child Indicators Research, 9, 701–713. Savahl, S., Casas, F., Adams, S. (2021). The structure of children’s subjective well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.650691 Savahl, S., & Adams, S. (2022). Conducting Participatory Research on Children’s Subjective WellBeing: At the Interface of Ethics and Methods. In Tonon, G. (Ed), Re-defining Children’s Participation in the Countries of the South (pp.15 – 32). Kindheit–Bildung–Erziehung. Philosophische Perspektiven. J.B. Metzler, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64167-5_2 Savahl, S., Adams, S., Florence, M., Casas, F.. (2022). The relation between children’s participation in daily activities, their engagement with family and friends, and subjective well-being. Child Indicators Research, 13. 1283–1312. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-019-09699-3 Schiavo, R. (2020). Children and COVID-19: Addressing the mental health impact of the pandemic. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 13(3), 147–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538068. 2020.1821438 Sen, A. (1985). Commodities and capabilities. North-Holland. Singh, N., Tang, Y., Zhang, Z., & Zheng, C. (2020). COVID-19 waste management: Effective and successful measures in Wuhan, China. Resources, Conservation & Recycling. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.resconrec.2020.105071

4 A Social Justice Perspective on Children’s Well-Being …

81

Solar, O. & Irwin, A. (2010). A conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health. Social determinants of health discussion paper 2, policy and practice. WHO. Spencer, N. (2018). The social determinants of child health. Paediatrics and Child Health, 28, 138–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paed.2018.01.001 Stoecklin, D., Gervais, C., Kutsar, D., & Heite, C. (2021). Lockdown and children’s Well-Being: Experiences of children in Switzerland, Canada and Estonia. Childhood Vulnerability Journal, 3, 41–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41255-021-00015-2 Strózik, D., Strózik, T., & Szwarc, K. (2016). The subjective Well-Being of school children. The first findings from the children’s worlds study in Poland. Child Indicators Research, 9, 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-015-9312-8 Thornton, A. (Ed.) (2001). The Well-Being of children and families. Ann Arbor, MI. University of Michigan Press. Tonon, G. (2016–2017). (Director) Calidad de vida de niños y niñas de 9 a 11 años que asisten a la escuela Santa María de Cañuelas. Programa de Investigación en Calidad de vida. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Argentina. Tonon, G., Molgaray, D. & Laurito, M. J. (2021). El bienestar de niños y niñas durante el confinamiento de la pandemia por Covid-19. Ciudadanías, Revista de Políticas Sociales Urbanas, Número 9, Infancias y adolescencias en la pandemia, UNTREF. http://revistas.untref.edu.ar/ index.php/ciudadanias/article/view/1280/1047 UNICEF (2012). The structural determinants of child well-being. UNICEF. United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (2013). A post-2015 world fit for children: Sustainable development starts with safe, healthy and well-educated children. Retrieved from 09 September 2015. http://www.unicef.org/post2015/files/SD_children_FINAL.pdf Verlenden, J. V., Pampati, S., Rasberry, C. N., Liddon, N., Hertz, M., Kilmer, G., Viox, M. H., Lee, S., Cramer, N. K., Barrios, L. C., & Ethier, K. A. (2021). Association of Children’s Mode of School Instruction with Child and Parent Experiences and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic-COVID Experiences Survey, United States, October 8-November 13, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(11), 369–376. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7011a1 Veenhoven, R. (2006). The four qualities of life: Ordering concepts and measures of the good. In M. McGillivray and M. Clark (Eds.) Understanding Human Well-being (pp. 74–100). United Nations University Press. Victorino, C. C., & Gauthier, A. H. (2009). The social determinants of child health: Variations across health outcomes–a population-based cross-sectional analysis. BMC Pediatrics 9, (53). https://doi. org/10.1186/1471-2431-9-53 Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton University Press. Zaff, J. F., Smith, D. C., Rogers, M. F., Leavitt, C. H., Halle, T. G., & Bornstein, M. H. (2003). In M. H. Bornstein, L. Davidson, C. L.M. Keyes, and K.A. Moore, Holistic Well-Being and the Developing Child (1st Edition). Psychology Press.

Sabirah Adams is a senior lecturer and registered research psychologist in the Language Development Group (Academic Development Programme), Centre for Higher Education Development, University of Cape Town. She holds a doctoral degree in psychology (University of the Western Cape), funded by the South African National Research Foundation Department of Science and Technology Innovation Doctoral Scholarship. Her research interests include children’s subjective well-being, child indicators and quality of life, academic literacies in higher education, environmental subjective well-being and sustainability, and participatory research with children. She is the principal investigator of the Children’s Worlds: International Survey of Children’s WellBeing (South Africa) and the Multinational Qualitative Study on Children’s Understandings of

82

S. Adams and S. Savahl

Well-Being study (South Africa). She is a member of the National Children’s Rights Intersectoral Coordinating Committee (National Department of Social Development, South Africa) and the International Society for Child Indicators. Shazly Savahl is a professor of psychology and the director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, at the University of the Western Cape. He obtained a Masters and Doctoral degree from the University of the Western Cape/Gent University, funded through the Vlaamse Interuniversiteit Raad Doctoral Scholarship Programme. His research interests include childhood studies, children’s subjective well-being, child well-being indicators, childcentred research, and children’s rights. Currently, he is the principal investigator of the Children’s Worlds: International Survey on Children’s Well-Being, and the Multinational Qualitative Study on Children’s Well-Being. He is also a member of the core international group leading a multinational study on the impact of COVID-19 on children’s well-being. He is a founding and current board member of the South African Positive Psychology Association, a member of the National Children’s Rights Intersectoral Coordinating Committee (National Department of Social Development, South Africa), and a board member of the International Society for Child Indicators.

Chapter 5

The Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage Due to the COVID 19 Pandemic Graciela Tonon

and Damián Molgaray

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic, places children in a situation of vulnerability, as a result of the restrictions placed on their ability to move outside the home in limited social interactions. This chapter comments on children’s opinions and analyses their daily experiences during the period of compulsory social isolation, and the effects on their lives and well-being. The study was carried out with 21 boys and girls aged 8– 12 years living in a city placed in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, a country in the Southern Cone. A questionnaire created on Google form was used, consisting of open-ended questions about the coronavirus and covering different dimensions of children’s daily life: the fears they feel in the face of the pandemic, the changes in their personal relationships with members of their cohabiting family group and members of their extended family and friends, their well-being, the activities they can and cannot carry out, the decisions adults have made for children and the decisions made at the government level. Children commented on the activities they do during the quarantine period as they have to stay at home with their families. In addition, they described the activities they are unable to do and those that they would like to do again, as well as who they would like to see. They also reported on how they feel about not being able to leave their homes and whether they feel safe being at home without going out. Finally, they were consulted about what adults should have thought, especially about children during the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures or decisions that should have been taken in the face of the pandemic both at the family, organisational and government level. Keywords Children · COVID-19 · Daily life · Confinement stage · Public policy

This study was part of a project we developed as members of the international research network: Children’s Understandings of Well-Being (CUWB). With our acknowledgment to Dr. Maria Juliana Laurito who worked with us during the field work. G. Tonon (B) · D. Molgaray CICS-UP, School of Social Sciences, Universidad de Palermo, Ciudad Autònoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_5

83

84

G. Tonon and D. Molgaray

5.1 The COVID-19 Pandemic: The Differences Between Quarantine and Confinement The COVID-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020 when the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus began to spread around the world. While, overall, children are not the population group most severely affected by the virus in terms of health, the strict prevention measures (such as compulsory confinement, school closures, etc.) can have negative effects on their mental health and personal well-being (Brodin, 2020). According to Henao-Kaffure (2010), the term “pandemic” derives from the Greek word pandêmonnosêma, which can be translated as “disease of all the population” (p. 55). Against this background, it is useful to examine the various terms employed in medicine, which are commonly used as synonyms, at least in Argentina, in the context of the pandemic, but which in fact refer to different practices and realities connected with the management of a health emergency. These terms are quarantine; isolation; social distancing; and confinement. According to Sánchez-Villena and de La Fuente-Figuerola (2020), quarantine is a (voluntary or compulsory) restriction on the freedom of movement of people believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease and who are thus suspected of being infected. Isolation involves the separation of people that have been infected and their being confined to a given space to avoid contact with individuals that are not infected. Social distancing consists of limiting gatherings in crowded places. This measure can include the closure of public places such as schools and shopping centres or limiting the size of gatherings (Sánchez-Villena & de La Fuente-Figuerola, 2020). Confinement (or lockdown) is a large-scale intervention combining health-related strategies to curb the spread of the disease and contemplating measures that are greater in magnitude than mere social distancing, such as bans on circulation in public spaces, compulsory wearing of masks, suspension of work in government offices, closure of borders, etc. (Sánchez-Villena & de La Fuente-Figuerola, 2020). Notwithstanding the above-described differences, the term quarantine is used in Argentina to refer to all of the general confinement measures introduced by the government and to the periods of confinement. For this reason, the children that took part in the questionnaire were asked about their experiences during the national confinement, but the term “quarantine” was used, as this was the term they associated with the idea of “having to stay at home”.

5.2 Methodology The general objective of this research was to analyse children’s daily life during the health emergency period imposed in Argentina in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

5 Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage

85

5.2.1 Method A descriptive study was conducted using the qualitative method, which considers the subject as a protagonist in research processes and at the same time recognises the importance of the context and meanings for actors. “The qualitative methodology is a kind of approach essential to understanding people’s experiences of well-being and discovering new issues related to quality of life” (Tonon, 2015, 8). Based on an exploratory study, this methodological approach provided a better understanding of the personal perceptions of the participants and gave prominence to the exploration of the subjective aspects of human conduct and the meanings created by each of the subjects, in this particular case, children living in the city of Chivilcoy, in the Province of Buenos Aires.

5.2.2 Sample The sample consisted of 21 children aged 8–12 years, 11 of whom were girls and 10 were boys. The study included children from middle-class households, taking into account that they had a real possibility of using gadgets to complete the online form. The children live in the city of Chivilcoy, the administrative centre of the namesake district, with a population of roughly over 55,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the centre-north region of the Province of Buenos Aires, some 160 km away from the City of Buenos Aires (the capital city of the country).

5.2.3 Context Chivilcoy is a typical city of the interior of Argentina. It has many green spaces and an urban profile characterised by broad avenues and low-rise buildings, with only the spires of the main parish and the town hall dominating the skyline. The city has an important rural area and its economic-productive profile is based on agricultural and livestock activities and retail businesses. In the past few years, the city has also begun to offer eco-tourism and cultural tourism options. Bordered by a lagoon, it draws tourists interested in fishing and water sports such as windsurf and regatta. Abundant water vegetation attracts a rich bird fauna. All of these aspects make Chivilcoy a quiet city, without major insecurity incidents.

86

G. Tonon and D. Molgaray

5.2.4 Techniques Considering the health emergency and the preventive measures adopted in response to it by the national government and the local governments, an online form was created on Google Forms and sent through the Internet to the families of the children that participated in the study. Google Forms is a free tool from Google that allows collecting anonymous information through self-editable and self-administered questionnaires. The forms are then distributed via a link to users with access to the Internet from a personal computer, a smartphone, or a tablet. Google Forms contains different types of questions. The study used questions that allowed writing long answers so that the children could be free to write as much as they wanted. The text of the questions was accompanied by a design from the app that was appealing to both boys and girls. In addition, some guiding references were added to certain questions whose language might pose difficulties. Some follow-up questions were included to encourage the participants to elaborate on their answers. In addition, a personal account was created on the Zoom platform in order to supplement the answers provided in the questionnaire with online individual interviews with the children. Given that the families and the children showed themselves more willing to connect online, the researchers conducted the interviews based on the original structure of the form. Zoom is a video chat software programme. While the platform offers subscriptions to a paid plan, the free plan provides a videoconference and chat service for a limited number of participants, with a 40-min time limit. For the fieldwork of this research study, the free plan was used, with one-on-one meetings that did not exceed 40 min. The open-ended questions that were included in the form and that guided the interviews were as follows: • What worries or make you afraid about COVID? • What activities are you doing over the quarantine period in which you have to stay at home with your family? (you use your cell phone, your computer, you watch TV, you do something else…). • How do you feel about not being able to leave home for several weeks? (you like it, you find it funny, you feel tired, bored, something else…). • What things can you no longer do and would like to do again? (places you used to go to, activities you did regularly, something else…). • What people can’t you see and would like to see again? Why? (friends, family members, neighbours, classmates, others…). • What do you think about the decision that people must stay at home during the quarantine?

5 Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage

87

5.2.5 Analysis Strategy The thematic analysis method was used for the analysis of data. This is a method for processing information in qualitative research which allows the identification, organisation, and detailed analysis, as well as the report of, patterns or themes based on a careful reading and re-reading of the information obtained, in order to infer the results leading to the proper comprehension/interpretation of the phenomenon under study (Braun & Clarke, 2006). As coding is a way of connecting the data to the ideas about that data, this research study used the categorisation method defined on the basis of the specific theoretical interests of the research. The themes were identified based on the children’s statements, and an organised description was created in a progressive manner that allowed an interpretation grounded on theory (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

5.2.6 Ethics In accordance with the legislation in force in Argentina, parents and guardians were requested to provide an informed consent authorising their children to participate in the study. The aim of the research was explained in the questionnaire, making it clear for the children that they could answer the questions based on what they thought and felt.

5.3 Results The approach to research with children has shifted over time, in line with changing perspectives on the conception of childhood. For many years, children have had a social role of little relevance and little visibility in public space. And so it was that their opinions and feelings were not considered by adults when making decisions about their own lives (Mieles Barrera & Tonon, 2015). In our research children reported on the activities they do during the quarantine period as they must stay at home with their families. In addition, they described the activities that they cannot do and those that they would like to do again, as well as who they would like to see again. They also commented on how they feel about being unable to leave their homes and whether they feel safe being at home without going out. Finally, they were consulted about what adults should have thought, especially about children during the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures or decisions that should have been taken in the face of the pandemic both at the family, organizational and government level. We present below the analysis of the children’s responses organised in five areas: (Table 5.1)

88 Table 5.1 Areas of the study

G. Tonon and D. Molgaray Fear of COVID-19 Confinement Activities during the confinement Children‘s personal relationships Government decisions Source Made by the authors

5.3.1 Fear of COVID 19 According to Bauman (2007), fear can be described as the feeling of being susceptible to danger. Fear of death, for instance, is the original fear haunting the subject until its final materialisation. According to Lechner (2002), fears are a strong passion that insinuates about the other hidden face of life. Evil and fear are categories that go hand in hand, as one fears something or someone that might cause harm and pain. Fears are common in childhood and adolescence and evolve over time (Valiente et al., 2003). When asked about what worried them or made them afraid about COVID, in general both boys and girls reported that they were worried that they or their family members or someone they loved might fall ill. They even voiced their fear of their own death or the death of someone they loved. Fear and anxiety about illness can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions both in adults and children. Situations of uncertainty usually trigger feelings of anger, irritability, sadness and anxiety that have an impact on children’s relationships. However, children’s fear in the face of the pandemic is not unfounded. A recent study published by the journal The Lancet estimates that, globally, between 1 March 2020 and 30 April 2021, around one million one hundred and thirty thousand children experienced the death of primary caregivers (including at least one parent or custodial grandparent). Among the 21 countries considered in the study, those in which at least one per 1000 children experienced the COVID-19-associated death of a primary caregiver included Argentina. It is generally estimated that there are up to five times more children with fathers who died of COVID-19 than mothers (Hillis et al., 2021). According to the above-mentioned study (Hillis et al., 2021), COVID-19associated caregiver deaths are a hidden pandemic that calls for an international effort to increase psychosocial and economic support to help families care for children that have lost their primary caregivers and avoid a phenomenon of over-institutionalisation of children. When considering children’s well-being in times of health crises, special attention should be paid to the significant impact that positive and negative emotions have on them. While, as stated by Brodin (2020), COVID-19 causes milder symptoms in children than in adults, the effects of the disease may bring about emotional and psychological damage for children, particularly when family members or people close to them become ill.

5 Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage

89

5.3.2 Confinement Argentina implemented health policies measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and curb the spread of the novel coronavirus after the health emergency was declared in the country on 12 March 2020. A strict confinement was imposed countrywide from 20 March to 26 April. Starting on 27 April, the government introduced restrictions by region, as required by the health conditions in each region. Initially, the actions targeted at curbing the pandemic were mainly focused on the Metropolitan area of Buenos Aires; however, towards mid-year they were extended to the whole country with the introduction of a tiered system that was used as an instrument to define the epidemiological and health risk and further to regulate the social mobility of the population. While Chivilcoy was not among the cities hardest hit by the pandemic, as of November 2021, the city recorded 10,345 infections with a death toll of 230. The same as with adults, the confinement was a novel situation for children that resulted in a dramatic change in their habits and routines. Children’s signs of irritability, hopelessness and disruptive behaviour have increased during the confinement. However, children usually have a greater adaptive capacity and resilience than adults and they thus adjust to changes more easily. With respect as to how the children felt about being unable to go out for several weeks due to the confinement, they gave different opinions; some of them wanted to go out of their homes while others wanted to stay in. We show below some of their opinions: I don’t like it, I get bored (girl, 8 years old). I sometimes like it because I’ve already got used to it, but I once got out and went to the park, and I liked it. Today I felt anguished about the situation, it has been going on for quite a long time (girl, 8 years old). I’m fed up, I want to go out and play (boy, 8 years old). The truth, honestly, it’s always the same, I almost never went out (boy, 12 years old). At the beginning I enjoyed not going out, but then I even wanted to go out and throw the rubbish in the street bin (girl, 11 years old). I liked it (boy, 8 years old).

Although there is a considerable body of research around the world warning about the adverse psychological effects that government confinement measures might have on children (for instance, Lee, 2020; Liu et al., 2020; Luijten et al., 2021; Mallik & Radwan, 2021; Yan Jiao et al., 2020; among others), the full impact that the pandemic may have on children is still unknown. Notably, the answers provided by the children from Chivilcoy do not differ from the experiences collected in other countries, where children have both positive and negative perceptions about home confinement (Stoecklin et al., 2021). According to UNICEF’s brief on The State of the World’s Children 2021, it will be in fact several years before we can assess the real impact of COVID-19 on children’s health around the globe. And, while the children of our study did not show any

90

G. Tonon and D. Molgaray

manifest mental health conditions, UNICEF’s brief makes it clear that children and adolescents’ mental disorders might increase significantly in the aftermath of the pandemic. UNICEF’s warning must ring alarm bells for academia, the medical profession and policy makers, especially if account is taken of the fact that mental disorders were already a matter of concern in Latin America before the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic. By 2019, the region already had about 16 million children and adolescents—aged 10–19—with a mental disorder (UNICEF, 2021). This was so even to the point that the third cause of death among this population group was suicide. This research found that, while the children interviewed reported being fed up and bored, the impact of the confinement in the city of Chivilcoy was not the same as that experienced in the large urban centres of the country. The impact was lessened by the fact that the restrictions started to ease at quite an early stage in the city.

5.3.3 Activities During the Confinement As to the activities carried out by the children at home during the confinement, they played video games, made video calls, played in the yards or gardens of their homes, watched TV, danced, and slept longer. In this connection, Casas and Bello (2012, 37) point out that child cultures seem to be much more influenced than adult cultures by relationships based on the new audiovisual technologies and the new information and communication technologies. The most popular activities among children are the use of mobile technologies (Bavelier et al., 2010) with great availability to play or surf the net (Schütz & Stum, 2017, quoted in Tonon et al., 2019). In the case of Argentina, Toscano and Mikkelsen (2016), in a research study conducted in the Province of Buenos Aires, found in a sample of 590 children aged 8 years that 61.8% used the computer and mobile devices every day, while in a sample of 472 children aged 10 years, the percentage was 47.7%. This research found that computer screens and television were the prevalent forms of recreation for the children interviewed, over any other type of recreation or form of company. Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were significant unanswered questions about the actual magnitude of the potential damages and benefits of children’s intensive screen use. According to Gavoto et al. (2020), there is still debate as to whether the adverse effects attributed to prolonged screen time use really reflect a causal mechanism caused by their use or, on the contrary, they are merely a manifestation of more complex phenomena. Crucially, children can have access to quality software and games as well as to low quality contents, including crude and violent information (Mieles Barrera & Tonon, 2015). In our study, when asked what things they could no longer do and would like to do again, the boys reported that they missed going out to play football and going to the park.

5 Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage

91

Participation in physical and sporting activities plays a central role in children’s life course, as they contribute to their physical and psychological well-being and enhance their self-esteem (Fletcher et al., 2003; Sacker & Cable, 2006; Ventura et al., 2012).In addition, in the case of children, physical activity is connected with the possibility of developing playful experiences, those that mobilise—according to Besnier et al. (2018)—the expansion of creative force and a disposition towards the world, operating as moments of voluntary “interruptions” of daily life routines. Doing physical activity is beneficial for people of all ages and physical shape and condition, as long as the means are appropriate to the abilities and interests of each individual. It is well-known today that, as argued by Cefai (2018), how children make use of their free time and have a public space available for play are key to their development. Socialisation and physical activity are crucial factors affecting the level of overall well-being and health in particular. In this connection, it is worth highlighting that a recent study conducted by UNICEF-Argentina (2021) into the effects of COVID-19 on the health of children and adolescents in the country found that, from the sample considered, children aged 3–12 coped with the confinement relatively better than older children. They seem to have developed a greater playful and creative ability, while their feelings of discontent and tiredness over the prolonged confinement did not give rise to a considerable number of mental disorder cases. Conversely, the group of adolescents and pre-adolescents reported a marked dissatisfaction with the restrictions in social contacts with peers and the loss of intimacy at home. In turn, this group experienced more emotional distress that led to serious psychological disorders.

5.3.4 Children’s Family and Personal Relationships When asked the same question, what things they could no longer do and would like to do again, the girls reported that they wanted to go out with their girlfriends and visit their grandparents. In this vein, it is worth highlighting that children’s family relationships are one of the key factors associated with their well-being (Joronen & Åstedt-Kurki, 2005). The same as with adults, interpersonal relationships are one of the most significant contributions to well-being (Casas & Bello, 2012, 37). Harmonious family environments favour children’s positive development and enhance their general well-being. With a central role as the primary source of socialisation, the family is responsible for the satisfaction of the child’s needs and has a relevant role in his/her development, both concerning the formation of his/her personality and identity and the different forms of human relationship. When family bonds are robust, children ascribe to them a positive meaning of emotional support, stability and generation of positive emotions, as long as they are based on affection (Palacio Valencia, 2009). Grandparents are, in particular, often a critical part in the life of many families. They are usually a pillar of the family structure. While parents are at work, grandparents take care of children and are usually, at least in Argentina, an economic support

92

G. Tonon and D. Molgaray

for family life. For many children, contact with their grandparents can be a source of trust and of extraordinary unconditional love. In times of crisis such as the one caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, personalised communication within the family can help to ease the anxiety and worry experienced by children. According to Yan Jiao et al. (2020), positive intrafamily dynamics, which foster communication between adults and children and promote collaborative games and which—among other things—pay attention to routines of rest, are vital to support children’s health and general well-being during the COVID19 pandemic. In addition, Dalton et al. (2020) point to the importance of effective communication with children, in particular during experiences of confinement, and argue that adults should listen to children’s opinions and doubts in order to ease feelings of guilt about the transmission of the disease. With respect to the people that the children were unable to see during the quarantine, they reported that they wanted to see their friends, their relatives in general and their schoolteachers. In this respect, it is worth noting that both parents and siblings and schoolmates play a crucial role in children’s psychological and social development (Sroufe et al., 1996). Authors such as McCauley Ohannessian et al. (1994) have stressed the significance of relationships with schoolmates during childhood. And, according to Tonon (2021), friendship is an important aspect of children’s personal well-being, as it is a source of social support. According to Haanpää and Ursin (2018), playing, talking, and investing in social interactions within the family or with friends creates an appropriate environment for children to develop social and emotional competencies. Moreover, spending recreational time with family members enhances children’s trust and reinforces their feelings of union and identification.

5.3.5 Government Decisions Finally, the children were asked to give their opinion about the government’s decision that people must stay at home. In this connection, they stated that staying at home was useful for people to take care of themselves and they understood that people all over the world were adopting a similar conduct. While one of the children stated that he was tired of the quarantine (confinement), most of the children reported that they agreed with the protection measures implemented by the national government; in some cases, they even suggested that controls should be tightened in order to look after the health of the population. We reproduce below some of the children’s opinions: This is to take care of us all, although I’ve got tired (girl, 8 years old). This is wrong, we should be able to go out, I want to go out (boy, 8 years old). There’s nothing else we can do, this has happened all over the world and we have to take care of ourselves and of the elders (girl, 10 years old).

5 Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage

93

I think it should be more extreme, no-one should go out. Everyone should stay at home and there should be only one person per street (boy, 12 years old). I think it’s all right. We have to take care of ourselves (girl, 11 years old). Well… if this is to stop many people from falling ill, then it’s ok (girl, 10 years old).

As discussed above, Argentina implemented a series of health policy measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and curb the spread of COVID-19. The main official decision was the introduction of a confinement regime, which is the one the children refer to in their comments. These government measures, however, started to cause rejection among the citizenry in mid-2020, as a result of the adverse economic impact caused by the shutdown of trade and industry, while at the same time a debate emerged as to the potential violation of individual rights and guarantees created by the exceptional regime put in place by the national government. The words of the children interviewed in this research somehow echo these conflicting positions within the public opinion across the country. Recognising children as valid interlocutors—in accordance with their age—in the debate about the best options for their future, even at a time of crisis such as the one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, means viewing them as individuals with valuable opinions and discourses that are not only feasible, but also useful for improving the life conditions of their generation and their community of belonging. Mieles Barrera and Tonon (2015) have alerted that considering childhood as a mere process in an individual’s pathway to adulthood prevents understanding the defining characteristics of child being, with all its associated potentialities inherent in the social, political, cultural, and economic context in which individual biographies are built.

5.4 Conclusions Childhood has evolved and will continue to evolve, with its different features according to the social contexts in which children interact daily. It is necessary to give credibility to the information provided by children, particularly considering that many adults have little trust in their ability to reflect and have their own point of view about the events and circumstances surrounding their existence (Mieles Barrera & Tonon, 2015, 20). The answers given by the children in this study show that they were informed about the coronavirus and the prevention measures to mitigate it. In addition, they were worried about falling ill with the virus or about someone they loved falling ill. While during home confinement some children wanted to go out while others preferred to stay in, they reported having done different types of activities, such as playing video games, making video calls, playing in the yards or gardens at home, watching TV, dancing and sleeping longer. The possibility of having leisure time to play and have fun creates satisfaction and contributes to the achievement of well-being (Tonon et al., 2019).

94

G. Tonon and D. Molgaray

The children reported that they wanted to see their friends, grandparents, uncles and aunts and family in general. The girls mostly wanted to go out with their girlfriends and visit their grandparents while the boys missed going out to play football and going to the park. With respect to the confinement, the children stated that it was useful for people to take care of themselves and that people all over the world were unable to leave their homes. The children further agreed that this effort was necessary to avoid infections. It is worth noting that it is not very common to find studies that collect children’s opinions in the first person. In fact, there is still scarce qualitative research that, like this article, shows children’s opinions about the confinement, let alone about the health strategies adopted by governments. There are significant reasons to give centre stage to children belonging to the socalled middle class, as is the case with the children interviewed in this research. They need to be listened to, valued and taken into consideration. This confirms the need to conduct research aimed at this population group, which is usually invisibilised and overlooked in public policy and subject to the vagaries of the economy (Mieles Barrera & Tonon, 2015). Our proposal is based on the reaffirmation of the need to continue to work for the respect of children’s rights and listen to what they have to say, and to urge government decision makers to include children’s reality as an important and ineluctable issue, because a society that does not take care of its children is a society without future (Mieles Barrera & Tonon, 2015).

References Bauman, Z. (2007). Miedo líquido: La sociedad contemporánea y sus temores. Paidós. Bavelier, D., Green, C. S., & Dye, M. W. (2010). Children, wired: For better and for worse. Neuron, 67(5), 692–701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.08.035 Besnier, N., Brownell, S., & Carter, T. (2018). Antropología del deporte: Emociones, poder y negocios en el mundo contemporáneo. Siglo XXI editores. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research Psychology, 3, 77–101. Brodin, P. (2020). Why is COVID-19 so mild in children? Acta Pediátrica, 109, 1082–1083. https:// doi.org/10.1111/apa.15271 Casas, F., & Bello, F. (Coords.) (2012). Calidad de vida y bienestar infantil subjetivo en España: ¿qué afecta al bienestar de niños y niñas españoles de 1º de ESO? UNICEF. Cefai, C. (2018). Healthy habits and healthy spaces: Children’s views on their use of time and space. In L. Rodríguez de la Vega & W. Toscano (Eds.), Handbook of leisure, physical activity, sports, recreation and quality of life (pp. 97–105). International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer. Dalton, L., Rapa, E., & Stein, A. (2020). Protecting the psychological health of children through effective communication about COVID-19. The Lancet- Child & Adolescent Health, 4(5), 346– 347. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30097-3 Fletcher, A. C., Nickerson, P., & Wright, K. L. (2003). Structured leisure activities in middle childhood: Links to well-being. Journal of Community Psychology, 31(6), 641–659. https://doi. org/10.1002/jcop.10075

5 Daily Life of Children During the Confinement Stage

95

Gavoto, L., Terceiro, D., & Terraza, S. A. (2020). Pantallas, niños y confinamiento en pandemia: ¿debemos limitar su exposición? Evidencia, actualizacion en la práctica ambulatoria, 23(4). https://doi.org/10.51987/evidencia.v23i4.6897 Haanpää, L., & Af Ursin, P. (2018). Lisure participation and child well-being: The role of family togetherness. In L. Rodríguez de la Vega & W. Toscano (Eds.), Handbook of leisure, physical activity, sports, recreation and quality of life (pp. 107–117). International Handbooks of Qualityof-Life. Springer. Henao-Kaffure, L. (2010). El concepto de pandemia: Debate e implicaciones a propósito de la pandemia de influenza de 2009. Revista Gerencia y Políticas De Salud, 9(19), 53–68. Hillis, S. D., Unwin, H. J. T., Chen, Y., Cluver, L., Sherr, L., Goldman, P., Ratmann, O., Donnelly, C. A., Bhatt, S., Villaveces, A., Butchart, A., Bachman, G., Rawlings, L., Green, P., Nelson, C. A., III., & Flaxman, S. (2021). Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers: A modelling study. The Lancet, 398(10298), 391–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01253-8 Joronen, K. & Åstedt-Kurki, P. (2005). Adolescents’ experiences of familial involvement in their peer relations and school attendance. Primary Health Care Research and Development, 6, 190– 198. https://bit.ly/3I0GcHa Lechner, N. (2002). Nuestros miedos. In M. I. Villa Martínez (Ed.), El miedo: Reflexiones sobre su dinámica social y cultural (pp. 135–155). Corporación Región. Lee, J. (2020). Mental health effects of school closures during COVID-19. The Lancet-Child & Adolescent Health, 4(6), 421. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30109-7 Liu, J. J., Bao, Y., Huang, X., Shi, J., & Lu, L. (2020). Mental health considerations for children quarantined because of COVID-19. The Lancet-Child & Adolescent Health, 4(5), 347–349. https:// doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30096-1 Luijten, M. A. J., van Muilekom, M. M., Teela, L., Polderman, T. J. C., Terwee, C. B., Zijlmans, J., Klaufus, L., Popma, A., Oostrom, K. J., van Oers, H. A., & Haverman, L. (2021). The impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on mental and social health of children and adolescents. Quality of Life Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-021-02861-x Mallik, C. I., & Radwan, R. B. (2021). Impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic in changes of prevalence of predictive psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in Bangladesh. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 56, 102554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102554 McCauley Ohannessian, C., Lerner, R. M., Lerner, J. V., & von Eye, A. (1994). A longitudinal study of perceived family adjustment and emotional adjustment in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 14(3), 371–390. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431694014003004 Mieles Barrera, M. D., & Tonon, G. (2015). Calidad de vida y niñez. Editorial de la Universidad de Magdalena. Palacio Valencia, M. C. (2009). Los cambios y transformaciones en la familia. una paradoja entre lo sólido y lo líquido. Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios de Familia, 1, 46–60. http://revlatino familia.ucaldas.edu.co/downloads/Rlef1_3.pdf Sacker, A., & Cable, N. (2006). Do adolescent leisure-time physical activities foster health and well-being in adulthood? Evidence from two British birth cohorts. The European Journal of Public Health, 16(3), 331–335. Sánchez-Villena, A. R. & de La Fuente-Figuerola, V. (2020). COVID-19: Cuarentena, aislamiento, distanciamiento social y confinamiento, ¿son lo mismo? Anales de Pediatría. Asociación Española de Pediatría, 93(1), 73–74. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anpedi.2020.05.001 Sroufe, L. A., Cooper, R.G. y DeHart, G.B. (1996). Child development: Its nature and course. (3rd edition). McGraw-Hill. Stoecklin, D., Gervais, C., Kutsar, D., & Heite, C. (2021). Lockdown and children’s well-being: Experiences of children in Switzerland, Canada and Estonia. Childhood Vulnerability Journal, 3, 41–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41255-021-00015-2 Tonon, G. (2015) (Ed.). Qualitative studies in quality of life: Methodology and practice. SIR Series 55. Springer.

96

G. Tonon and D. Molgaray

Tonon, G. (2021). Student’s quality of life at the university: A qualitative study. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 16(4), 1517–1535. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-020-09827-0 Tonon, G., Laurito, M. J., & Benatuil, D. (2019). Leisure, free time and well-being of 10 years old children living in buenos aires province, Argentina. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 14, 637–658. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9612-5 Toscano, W. N. & Mikkelsen, C.A. (2016). El tiempo libre. In G. H., Tonon, C. A., Mikkelsen, L. R., de la Vega & W.N. Toscano (Eds.), Investigar la calidad de vida con niños y niñas (pp. 62–65). Colección Científica UNICOM. https://www.sociales.unlz.edu.ar/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ A4N8-InvestigarLaCalidadDeVida.pdf UNICEF (2021). On my mind: Promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health. UNICEF. UNICEF-Argentina (2021). Estudio sobre los efectos en la salud mental de niñas, niños y adolescentes por COVID-19. UNICEF-Argentina Valiente, R., Sandín, B., Chorot, P., & Tabar, A. (2003). Diferencias según la edad en la prevalencia e intensidad de los miedos durante la infancia y la adolescencia: Datos basados en el FSSC-R. Psicothema, 15(3), 414–419. Ventura, M., Shute, V., & Kim, Y. J. (2012). Video gameplay, personality and academic performance. Computers & Education, 58(4), 1260–1266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.11.022 Yan Jiao, W., Na Wang, L., Liu, J., Feng Fang, S., Yong Jiao, F., Pettoello-Mantovani, M., & Somekh, E. (2020). Behavioral and emotional disorders in children during the COVID-19 epidemic. The Journal Pediatrics, 221, 264–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.03.013

Graciela Tonon is a full professor of quality of life: theory and methodology and research methods in social sciences, director of the Research Center in Social Sciences (CICS-UP) at the School of Social Sciences of the Universidad de Palermo, Argentina. She is also full professor of community social work and children at risk and vulnerability, and director of the Social Institute of Social Sciences UNI-COM at the Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora, Argentina. She obtained her doctoral degree in political science (USAL, Argentina) with postdoctoral studies at the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy, and a master’s degree in political sciences (UMSAM, Argentina). She also has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She has received the ISQOLS Distinguished Service Award for Substantial Contributing to a Better Understanding of Quality-ofLife Studies–2016. She is the editor of the International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life Series, ISQOLS–Springer and the editor of the Book Review Section and member of the Policy Board of Applied Research in Quality of Life, ISQOLS–Springer. She is also the director of the Journal de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Palermo, Argentina; vice-president of publications (2019–2022) of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies and secretary of the Human Development and Capability Association (2016–2022) and fellow (2014–2025). She is the author of 27 books in English and Spanish; she has written many scientific articles and book chapters and has given lectures at universities on five continents. She has also worked for 25 years as social worker with children living in conditions of abuse and poverty. She has recently been appointed as an instructor of the Child Indicator Certification Programme (ISQOLS-MIQOLS). Damián Molgaray Magister in Social Sciences and Bachelor’s in Political Science. He is member of the Research Center in Social Sciences (CICS-UP) and Editorial Secretary of the Journal de Ciencias Sociales, School of Social Sciences, Universidad de Palermo (Argentina). Professor and Online teacher-instructor. In addition, he has worked as a tutor in the research practices of undergraduate students and is the author of scientific articles, essays, book chapters and book‘s reviews (in Spanish and English). He has participated as panellist in national and international conferences.

Chapter 6

Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation and Realizing Social Justice in the Urban Realm: A Case Study in the Classroom with Ethnic Minority Children Haifa AlArasi, Javier Martinez, and Sherif Amer Abstract This chapter presents a case study of research conducted with 39 children from an ethnic minority background in the city of Enschede, The Netherlands, where we focus on understanding participants’ experiences and perceptions regarding their local neighbourhoods through an experimental digital methodology using Google Maps™. The findings showcase detailed geolocated observations that can be incorporated into the planning process and hold the possibility of better addressing minority children’s needs in their living environments and realizing social justice. Through our discussion of the research process and outcomes, we reflect on facilitation processes and meaningful participation of children while navigating fieldwork material limitations. The chapter starts with a brief discussion on childhood agency and participation, followed by a brief contextual description of the city of Enschede where our study takes place. Next, we highlight the recruitment process followed by a discussion of the digital methodological approach we employed to engage the participants in mapping and producing a visual archive of their positive and negative experiences in their residential neighbourhoods. Finally, we reflect on our study alongside larger debates on children’s agency and participation in urban planning processes. Keywords Children’s participation · Child-friendly · Social justice · Agency · Mapping · Children’s perceptions

H. AlArasi (B) Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada e-mail: [email protected] J. Martinez · S. Amer Department of Urban Planning and Management, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] S. Amer e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_6

97

98

H. AlArasi et al.

6.1 Introduction Sustainable urbanisation and capacity for participatory planning are one of the targets of The Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 (Goal 11.3, SDG) (United Nations, 2015). This is specifically important for realizing social justice and inclusion of marginalised populations, including children, women, and people from disadvantaged economic backgrounds. They remain disproportionately impacted by poor living conditions and decision-making processes with children remaining one of the groups requiring strong protection and achieving a minimum of participation (Jans, 2004). As such, interest in engaging these groups in public participatory activities has been growing in recent years. In the urban realm, the “just city” theory proposes to those who can intervene in socio-spatial inequalities, such as policymakers and planners, to move beyond economic aspects of equity and distribution and incorporate other dimensions such as participation and diversity (Fainstein, 2010). For children specifically, the declaration of their rights in The Convention on The Right of the Child in 1989 (United Nations, 1989) propelled research-based and practice-based interest in centring children’s voices on issues that matter to them. However, developing participatory mechanisms that draw from children’s local knowledge while accounting for context-specific limitations remains a challenging process.

6.2 Childhood Agency Contemporary notions of childhood are predicated on the Piagetian developmental model viewing children as pre-conditioned adults and segmenting their growth, needs, requirements, and associated capacities along with a linear progression into adulthood (Piaget, 1976). In this model, active participation and agency were located at the end of this progression (Jans, 2004). However, this view was challenged by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that asserted the child as a bearer of their own rights. Articles 12 and 13 specifically address their rights to freedom of expression in all matters affecting them (United Nations, 1989), opening up the possibilities for children’s participation and recognition in a world dominated by adults. With all nations signing the UNCRC convention (Except for the US and South Sudan), attempts to translate the rights articulated in the convention into different local agendas were made with various projects under municipal, NGO, and nonfor-profit models and projects. For example, in the EU, government-initiated youth councils are the most prevalent structure for participation in at least 27 countries along with semi-governmental child-focused organisations that work with/for children to promote their rights (RAND Europe & Eurochild, 2021). Such institutional councils are also present in other regions; however, they remain representational in nature as they are structured through adults’ conception of citizenship and participation and

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

99

hence are considered limited in promoting children’s participation and social justice (Jans, 2004). Furthermore, the binary distinction between childhood and adulthood that is inherit in the modelling of these institutions ignores diversity of individuals and intergenerational relationships, and fails to interrogate participation as an evolving discourse (Tisdall, 2015). This results in these institutions holding a symbolic value that doesn’t always translate into effective influence on decision making. Instead, an argument is made for a participatory model based on a learning process where children’s play is seen as a way of giving meaning to their environment. This is paralleled by Percy-Smith (2013), who argues for the need to focus on children’s daily relationships, interaction, and engagement to witness their active and autonomous mediation of their environment. In fact, James (2004) rightly questions whether childhood experiences across different cultures and within the same culture across different classes, ethnicities and genders lead us to question the significant weight given to biological factors—including age. In this regard, environmental and social contexts can enhance an individual’s agency through their acquisition of cultural and social capital that allows them to mediate and reproduce these same contexts (Oswell, 2013). In recognizing that children’s practice of their agency is not only negotiated, but also mediated by gender, age, bodily forms, and collectively reproduced practices (Christensen & O’Brien, 2003), we reach a relational understanding between agency (of children) and structure (of childhood) that is influenced by ‘Bourdieu’s (1990) structuration theory where children mediate their social and environmental contexts, and are simultaneously mediated not only by the contexts but by others inhabiting it (Bourdieu, 1990). Moreover, although this represents a notion of ‘mediated ‘agency’, Oswell (2013) critiques what he calls a ‘categorical reduction of childhood’ because this notion doesn’t focus on the assemblage of processes that brings it into being. In his view, it is important to also ‘understand the extension of agency along different temporalities and spatiality’s’ (Oswell, 2013, p. 16) and not always position it at the scale of the individual child or the collectivity of childhood. This required researchers and practitioners to challenge adultism notions of agency, participation, and active citizenship that is conditioned by institutional processes, and encouraged exploring children’s own perspectives to acknowledge their experiences and expand our understanding of how children practice their determination and agency at the local scale of the everyday (James et al., 1998).

6.3 Childhood Right of Spatial Justice and Participation in the Urban Realm Numerous studies have pointed to urban settings contributing to the physical, social, and psychological development of children (Lynch, 1977; Simpson, 1997; Valentine, 1997). Unfortunately, with social and economic inequalities prevalent in cities today, an increasing number of urban dwellers face challenges in accessing urban amenities

100

H. AlArasi et al.

and rights to their cities with children bearing the most weight of these inequalities (Bartlett, 1999). As such there has been an increased recognition of the need to strengthen people’s capacities and promoting local voices (Craig, 2007). Nevertheless, child participation in municipal governance did not always take priority despite evidence of the feasibility of incorporating their issues and voices in local governance (Bartlett, 1999). Failure to address children’s insights and experiences can result in living environments where children feel alienated and excluded (Gleeson & Sipe, 2006). This is evident in the limited independent mobility, the reduction of walkability (De Vries et al., 2010, Wridt, 2010), and the exclusion of children from public spaces (Laughlin & Johnson, 2011). In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed The New Urban Agenda (NUA) as a resource for all actors and residents of urban areas in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11—Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (United Nations, 2017). The notion of social justice is embedded in the NUA as it also advocates to “ensure that all citizens have access to equal opportunities and face no discrimination” (United Nations, 2017). The NUA in its 148 article, includes explicitly children and youth as one of the groups that should participate in urban development decision-making. The signature countries commit to: promote the strengthening of the capacity of national, subnational and local governments, including local government associations, as appropriate, to work with women and girls, children and youth, older persons and persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and local communities, and those in vulnerable situations, as well as with civil society, academia and research institutions in shaping organisational and institutional governance processes, enabling them to participate effectively in decision-making about urban and territorial development. (United Nations, 2017)

Furthermore, the NUA article 42 also supports governments “in fulfilling their key role in strengthening the interface among all relevant stakeholders, offering opportunities for dialogue, including through age- and gender-responsive approaches, and with particular attention to potential contributions from all segments of society, including men and women, children and youth, older persons and persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and local communities, refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants”. (United Nations, 2017) Before the NUA, UNICEF has advocated children’s participation in planning processes. Participation is one of the key elements required to build child friendly cities—“promoting children’s active involvement in issues that affect them; listening to their views and taking them into consideration in decision-making processes”. (UNICEF, 2004, p. 4)

In its framework for action UNICEF (2004, p. 1) indicates several rights that cities have to guaranty to every child (young citizen) in order to be considered “child friendly” including rights to spatial justice and participation. Martinez et al. (2017) have classified those rights in three main groups:

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

101

Rights to spatial justice a City guarantees the right of every young citizen to • "Be an equal citizen of their city with access to every service, regardless of ethnic origin, religion, income, gender or disability” [and age].

Participatory—Procedural rights/the right to participate a Child-Friendly City guarantees the right of every young citizen to • “Influence decisions about their city”. • “Express their opinion on the city they want”. • “Participate in family, community and social life”. • “Participate in cultural and social events”.

Quality-of-life rights/the right of well-being a Child-Friendly City guarantees the right of every young citizen to • “Drink safe water and have access to proper sanitation”. • “Be protected from exploitation, violence and abuse”. • “Walk safely in the streets on their own”. • “Meet friends and play”. • “Have green spaces for plants and animals”. • “Live in an unpolluted environment”.

Over the past three decades, there has been not only a growing body of research examining children’s environments and geographies (Chawla, 2016; Lynch, 1977; Ward, 1978) but also an increasing number of participatory research activities exploring local living environments with children as active agents in the process (Cope & Elwood, 2009; Driskell, 2017; Kyttä, 2004; Laughlin & Johnson, 2011; Valentine, 1997). These studies generated much-needed discussion on carrying out research with children, the range of methods available and frequently utilised in working with them, the significance of the perceptions they hold of their environment, the ethical guidelines on working with them, the positionality of the researcher in relation to the researched, and the overall implication of the research process on the production of knowledge. According to Freeman (2006) many planners acknowledge the underrepresentation of children involvement in their cities and the urgent need to create an urban setting that contributes to their physical, social, and psychological development. However, these planners also feel that they lack the skills needed to develop practices that effectively take children’s insights into account (Freeman, 2006). Therefore, it is important to recognize that attempting to understand children’s perceptions and trying to get insights into their experiences, involves a great deal of research. This is particularly true because of the subjectivity of the elicited insights and the vulnerability of this population group.

102

H. AlArasi et al.

Having said that, multiple barriers exist to children’s effective engagement and participation. Among them is the view held of children as incompetent vulnerable subjects, the misconstrued notion that they lack the knowledge, experience, and needed skill to participate and form their own opinions, and the subsequent reluctance of children to participate (Lekies et al., 2009). Moreover, systematic obstacles due to their lack of political power (e.g., inability to vote) and their exclusion from the use of public spaces (Simpson, 1997) contribute to further marginalizing their voices. Even when participation is part of a community-organized activity (e.g. sports activities and/or small projects), barriers may be present in different forms including the socioeconomic backgrounds of the children, the lack of time to participate, the lack of access to the community organization, and stigma of physical or mental disabilities (Law et al., 2007; Lekies et al., 2009). Consequently, children are rarely given space for active contribution and their participation remains at the margins of an adult-centric expert society. Reflecting on their participation in municipal and governance processes in Canada, young people identified lack of funding and resources; non-continuity of participation; limited linkage to power, and lack of sustainability of process and training as main barriers to effective participation (Lui, 2004). Meaningful participation, therefore, remains a challenge involving multi-level degrees of empowerment with most research and practice-based initiatives falling under consultation according to Hart’s ladder of participation (Hart, 1992). This conceptual framework for children’s participation was further elaborated on by Jennings et al. (2006) to develop a practical framework for critical youth empowerment. In their research with community youth organizations, they interviewed both adults and youth to develop six main dimensions including: A welcoming and safe environment; meaningful participation and engagement; equitable power-sharing between youth and adults; engagement in critical reflection on interpersonal and socio-political processes; participation in socio-political processes to effect change; and integrated individual- and community-level empowerment (Jennings et al., 2006, p. 41). However, in the instances where children were given a voice, scholars have reported multiple benefits, not only to the participating children, but also to the organizing adults, and the community as a whole. These benefits include activating children’s citizenship and sense of responsibility, promoting an early awareness of the environment, learning and developing a set of new skills (e.g., peer collaboration, using new tools), and finally a potential to extend the collaboration network(s) between schools, local organization and municipalities to promote more participatory activities (Frank, 2006; Wilson et al., 2007; Zeldin, 2004). To this effect, the literature reports on different methods used to engage children in their communities. For example, Wilson et al. (2007) empowered children in an after school program through the use of photovoice to raise issues that are important in their environment and used the photos as the basis of critical dialogue and collective action plans. While Wridt (2010) utilized participatory mapping to engage children in evaluating their local neighborhoods. More recently, many researchers attempted to utilize technology in an effort to streamline the participation process. For example, Santo et al. (2010) trained children to use technology in order to collect data, analyze

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

103

information, and create maps with computers to register their experiences of their neighborhoods, while Berglund and Nordin (2007) developed a method for children to map and record their opinions in a child-friendly computerized geographic information systems (GIS) to facilitate the process of bringing their insights to the official planning process. In the next section we continue this line of investigation as we introduce a case study of working with children using computer-aided methods to engage them in recording their experiences of their local neighborhoods.

6.4 Case Study The case study described in this chapter was conducted in Enschede, The Netherlands, in January of 2013 prior to the mass migrant movement to Europe in 2015. Our study was sparked by an interest to explore children’s perceptions and experiences of their local environmental context. By environmental context we refer to any space lived by children outside of their home. It may include not only the spatiallycontiguous neighbourhood but also the school -including the space of the journey-toschool and other recreation sites where children visit and hang out (Martinez et al., 2017). We designed the case study with a participatory methodological approach accounting for participants actively contributing cumulatively to build a spatial knowledge repository of their experiences in their neighbourhoods. The following section details our recruitment and methodological approach.

6.4.1 Enschede: Contextualizing the Study Area Enschede is in the Province of Overijssel in the eastern part of the Netherlands, close to the German border. It is a medium-sized city with close to 160,000 inhabitants (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2021). From the nineteenth century onwards, the city developed into a national centre of the booming textile industry. High demand for lowskilled workers translated into shortages in the local labor market. In turn, companies resorted to recruiting employees from abroad, initially from Southern Europe but later mainly from Turkey and Maroc (Pater et al., 1989). In the late 1960s, the textile industry collapsed because of international competition, leaving the city to be one of the poorest municipalities in the Netherlands. Since then, efforts have been made to revitalize the city’s economy and transform it into a modern city with a focus on knowledge-intensive industries and institutions of higher education (Enschede-Stad, 2014). Many of the non-western migrant workers, however, remained and reunited with their families and together made up about 18% of the city population in 2020 (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2021). In general, population groups with a migration history still have a less favorable position on the labor market and have a lower socioeconomic status (Jongen et al., 2020).

104

H. AlArasi et al.

6.4.2 Participant Recruitment Since the study was participatory in nature, invitations were sent to local schools in the city that offered independent curriculums. This was specifically done to facilitate possible collaborations with teachers and introduce the research as part of their planned geography lessons. The case study presented in this section was conducted with Al-Ummah School in Enschede. The school ran a ministry-approved Dutch curriculum with extra lessons and activities that are embedded in Muslim-based practices and their student body was primarily composed of children who come from ethnic minority backgrounds. Email communication was established with the school’s principal that included informational documents detailing the purpose of the research and a proposed plan of study. An initial meeting took place on school grounds where the researchers and principal discussed details of the proposed research and anticipated timeframe, along with the possible positioning of the study as part of specific geography lessons for grade 7 and 8 students. Further discussions were then held with the home teachers of these classes to discuss possible methodologies of introducing the research to their classes. Ethical principles in working with children were considered in access and research procedures. After securing formal access to the school, we asked the teachers to get informed consent of the legal guardians of students in their classes and ensured verbal informed assent from the participants themselves on the days we were present in the school. We followed a convenience sampling approach and engaged a total of 39 children (21 girls and 18 boys) ranging in age between 10 and 11 years old. All participants came from ethnic minority backgrounds, including Bosnia, Morocco, and Turkey, with most of them being born and raised in Enschede. Most of the participants spoke languages other than Dutch, including English, Arabic, and Turkish, which facilitated one-on-one communication with the main researcher who also spoke English and Arabic.

6.4.3 Methodological Approach Our work with Al-Ummah school was the second case study we were conducting as part of a larger research that looked at the qualities of the living environment from children’s perspectives. It followed an initial case study that involved an international school in the city of Enschede where we worked with the geography teacher to design a research that involved their students in exploring the city centre area and report on their perceptions and experiences using multiple methods including: participatory mapping, photovoice, walkalongs, and interviews (Alarasi et al., 2016). Initially, the fieldwork here aimed to conduct a parallel study methodologically while focusing on the residential neighbourhoods of the participating children. However, following an initial meeting with the school’s principal, the study

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

105

approach was adapted to better suit the students’ needs and to also account for the main researcher’s limited capacity in the Dutch language. During subsequent meetings with the principal and the teachers for grades 7 and 8 we learned more about the school’s available resources (both logistical and technical) and we further modified the design of our methodology based on the suggestions of the teachers. As a result, the case study mainly employed two methodologies including mapping and photovoice as ways of: (a) engaging students with their local neighbourhoods and (b) building their soft and technical skills in map-reading and communicating their experiences. Considering the students’ first language and the teaching medium in the school, all research materials needed to be communicated in Dutch. Both teachers of grades 7 and 8 collaborated with the main researcher to translate an introductory presentation that detailed the research aim and a step-by-step process in a child-friendly language. The main researcher introduced the study to both classes in English aided by the translated slides and instant verbal translation from the teachers. Additionally, consent and assent forms in the Dutch language were shared with both children and their legal guardians that highlighted that their participation in the study was optional and gave them the right to withdraw at any given time without consequences to their schoolwork. The teachers of both grades surveyed students to assess whether they had access to digital cameras and/or phones with cameras. With limited research resources and with many students reporting not owning a camera at home, we redesigned our research process to include a workshop on using Google MapsTM. We did this for two reasons. First, to accommodate teachers’ request of engaging their students in technical skill learning. Second, to utilise the ‘street view’ option of Google MapsTM as a digital method of capturing photos of their local neighbourhood for participants who did not own a camera. A workshop took place during class time in the school’s computer lab where the main researcher (supported by the home teachers) ran a demonstration for both groups (7 & 8) on the use of Google MapsTM. This included directions on how to search for a specific location via the search command, directions on turning on satellite layer to ease map readability and navigating a map through panning and zooming. Students were paired on one computer, and they were given time to play around with the maps while also allowing room for peer support and discussion. We then asked them to locate their school by entering the address in the Google MapsTM search bar, and as a group tried to navigate the map by identifying familiar landmarks to the participants. We then repeated the process by asking participants to enter their home addresses in the search bar and navigate through familiar landmarks around their own neighbourhoods. The main researcher along with both teachers had oneon-one casual conversations with participants about their respective neighbourhoods and asked them to show us on their maps what areas they liked/disliked and to support their dropped pins by street map views when available. In the course of one week, children who had access to a digital camera photographed places that they liked and places they disliked in their neighbourhoods and attached them with a dropped pin on Google MapsTM to help identify the

106

H. AlArasi et al.

Fig. 6.1 Examples of mapped photos (Source Compiled and edited by first author based on Google Maps, Street Views and Photos retrieved by participants)

locations (see Fig. 6.1a for example). Children who did not own a camera utilised the street view option of Google MapsTM to show their liked and disliked places (see Fig. 6.1b for example). All participants were asked to include a short description of their photos explaining why a specific place was (dis-)liked. A total of 190 pictures from 12 different neighbourhoods (9 of which were in Enschede) were reported back. The home teachers facilitated a translation of all descriptions to English. The translated text along with the associated photos were entered into Atlas.tiTM a qualitative analysis software that facilitates coding of qualitative data. Structural coding was initially done to retrieve excerpts of both positive and negative experiences. Next, a round of open coding was done to get a general understanding of the perceptions and experiences. This was followed by a thematic analysis to identify patterns of reoccurring themes. Finally the emergent reoccurring themes were organised and sub-categorised into social and physical qualities using the Chawla (2016) model of the living environment.

6.4.4 Findings This section shortly highlights the case study’s findings. As discussed earlier, participants reported 190 information-rich points in 12 different neighbourhoods. Table 6.1 provides a breakdown of the multiple emergent themes reported in their photomapping exercise. As illustrated, the themes cover positive and negative qualities that are part of the social and physical environment of the participating children. The highest-ranking reported quality was ‘variety of activity setting’ with participants including pictures of places that facilitate meeting with peers and free play. Most pictures were of child-dedicated facilities that were specifically designed for play. 30 pictures came back of playgrounds, 8 of football fields, 7 for especially dedicated activity centres where children go for organised afterschool activities (e.g. karate lessons or swimming lessons) (see Fig. 6.2a). Only 5 pictures came back of

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

107

Table 6.1 Emergent qualities of participants’ photos Experiences

Themes

Positive qualities

Variety of activity settings Playgrounds; community 65 and peer gathering places centres; parks; restaurants; movie theatre

Sub-themes

Number of pictures

Familiarity

Home; playgrounds

12

Natural Elements

Fountains; trees; ponds; parks

10

Shopping services

Supermarkets; shopping centres;

5

Aesthetically pleasing

Graffiti; art installations

5

Safety

–

Negative qualities Physical danger

2

Cars; roads; pollution; plants and animals

33

Sensuous qualities

Dirty; old; loud; stinky; dark

25

Boredom

Old playgrounds; sterile spaces

20

Fear of harassment and crime

Bullying; senior homes; youth

12

Source Made by the authors

places that facilitate unstructured free play including parks and small green areas in their neighbourhoods. Fourteen mapped points came back of small shops, supermarkets, and restaurants as places the children liked frequenting to buy food (see Fig. 6.2b). The reporting of other positive qualities included: the presence of natural elements; the presence of beautiful features in the neighbourhoods, and safety were gendered. Mapped points here were exclusive to female participants as they mapped points of small lakes, trees, green areas, benches, decorated and colourful installations associating them with serenity, calmness and good air to breath (see Fig. 6.2c). Participants’ homes as well as streets in front of their homes were also mapped (again showing up in gendered ways) as female participants mentioned their homes as a ‘favourite place’. This confirms previous findings that associate a sense of familiarity and safety the children felt with their immediate surroundings (Abbott-Chapman & Robertson, 2009). Negative features mapped included old buildings, abandoned green areas, public phone booths, and trash cans, and these were associated with words like ugly, old, and dirty (see Fig. 6.3a). These negative sensory experiences also extended to other mapped points as 8 pictures were of different places where a participant experienced loud noises and/or bad smells including pictures of construction sites, litter, major roads with heavy traffic, and green areas where they reported people not picking up after their pets. Moreover, 20 mapped locations were associated with boredom including pictures of play fixtures in playgrounds, empty green areas, bus stops, and

108

H. AlArasi et al.

Fig. 6.2 Examples of mapped positive qualitiess (Source Compiled and edited by first author based on Google Maps, Street Views and Photos retrieved by participant)

local streets in their neighbourhoods. In all these locations, participants cited sterile features that did not respond to their needs. For example, adult-centric places like the bank showed up in this category, as well as different bus stops where participants experienced long wait times. Also, the playgrounds that were mapped and associated with boredom, did not respond to our participants’ age-group needs and only catered for younger children. Themes of both physical and social danger were also reoccurring as participants reported on their concern for safety. Heavy traffic topped the pictures representing physical danger as 16 locations were mapped of major roads with experiences communicating difficulty crossing, accidents taking place, and collision injuries (see Fig. 6.3c). Fear for safety was also reported along with pictures of dark streets under crossing bridges and streets covered and shaded by large trees (see Fig. 6.3b). Detailed experiences also showed up here with some mapped points included narratives of fear of falling in small pits, fear of being stung by specific plants (e.g., cactuses), and fear of dogs. Under social danger, participants reported fear of harassment and crime in areas of their neighbourhoods where they experienced bullying, along with areas where older youth (referenced in the participants’ narratives as ‘gangs’) hang out and drink, as well as old nursing homes where they came across unfriendly seniors.

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

109

Fig. 6.3 Examples of mapped negative qualities (Source Compiled and edited by first author based on Google Maps, Street Views and Photos retrieved by participants)

6.5 Discussion The case study discussed here was completed following recommendations of city planners in Enschede to work with children in their residential neighbourhoods to gain contextual knowledge of the local living environment (Alarasi et al., 2016). The findings reported on in the previous section illustrate children’s unique ability to record detailed observations about their environment that are valuable to planners. They clearly indicate children’s capacity to participate in planning activities and provide observations that are valid in informing local planning policies that aim to better address children’s need in their communities. The findings also highlight the importance of grounded knowledge produced by the children themselves when reporting their unique experiences and observations as a mode of claiming their space in the city. According to Carroll et al. (2019), this can open possibilities to urban spatial justice, especially when the observations challenge the adult hegemony of the city. Considering the ethnic minority background of the children, it is crucial to reflect on the rights that cities must guaranty to every child, to realize spatial and social justice, and be considered “child friendly”. In particular “be an equal citizen of their city with access to every service, regardless of ethnic origin, religion, income, gender or disability” UNICEF (2004, p. 1). Reflecting on the different themes emerging from the mapped photos, we can identify observations corresponding to children’s rights in cities as set by UNICEF and classified by Martinez et al. (2017). For example, in mapping different activity settings including community centres, parks, and libraries,

110

H. AlArasi et al.

participants touched on their procedural rights to participate in community and social life as well as their rights of well-being to meeting friends and having green spaces. Moreover, in mapping locations and qualities that negatively affected them (e.g. streets with cars; dark streets; and bullying) participants indirectly commented on their rights to walk safely in the streets, to live in an unpolluted environment and to be protected from abuse. We can also make an argument for the effectiveness of the employed mapping methodologies in engaging children in communicating and registering their experiences and in promoting their civic education in a classroom setting (Rubel et al., 2017). We approached this study attempting to create a participatory exercise that accounts for the agency of children. Throughout our research design process that was navigated while accounting for fieldwork material limitations including language barriers, time restrictions, and access to technological devices, we recognized participatory activities as a complex multi-layered structure. In doing so, we intend on emphasizing the limited notion of the ‘agentic child’ and stressing the need to examining agencies extending beyond the capacity of the child. In this regard, Prout (2004), insists on finding ways to conceive of childhood that transcend biological determinism, and embrace hybridity and multiplicities. One way of establishing this is through Actor-network theory (ANT) (Latour, 1996). Using the metaphor of networks, this theory suggests that we can conceive of childhood as ‘a collection of different heterogeneous orderings’ (Oswell, 2013, p. 70). Agency in this sense becomes infrastructured and distributed across a complex network of agents where children become hybrids of ‘child-computer-camera-thing’ with networks providing more openness to new actors resulting in continuous and endless proliferations, iterations, and combinations (Prout, 2004). Reflecting on our fieldwork, we contend that advocating for children’s participation without making appropriate provisions is potentially tokenistic and unethical. Here, Veale (2006) stresses the ethical obligation on the researcher’s part to be aware of the historical and socio-political experiences that are part of the personal and collective identities of ethnic minority children and acknowledge these dynamics in a way that allows for a responsive research process. We therefore argue for the need to also start reflexively situating ourselves as a node in a complex system that enables children in becoming active in reproducing their own structures and their associated spaces. We need to examine our position as researchers who are removed from childhood spaces yet interested in exploring them. We need to reflect on our ‘node(s)’ and/or our reflexive actions and the potential they hold in extending or hindering our subjects’ agencies. Tools that enable the production of embedded visualisations (i.e., the map; the camera; the computer) become an extension of agency since the child is viewed as a hybrid actor of ‘man–machine’ (Büscher & Urry, 2009; Prout, 2004). In this sense, agency is not thought of as discursive, but rather as material, heterogeneous and distributed across social, technological, and natural resources and media (Oswell, 2013, p. 61). Agency in this sense can be supplemented and extended beyond human capacities, opening up endless possibilities for (re-)negotiation and (re-)production of socio-spatial experiences, processes, and structures (Prout, 2004).

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

111

6.6 Conclusion Through a detailed account of our methodological approach, the chapter offers a discussion of children’s participation in planning processes and presents a critique to limited notions of children’s agency. We argue that by discussing the messiness of working with children, we can decentre children’s agency from the individual child to a relational embedded infrastructure that extends beyond the human capacity of the child. This conception of agency helps us in expanding our understanding of participation as we continue working towards realizing social justice and finding mechanisms that ensure ‘inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making at all levels’ (Goal 16.7, SDG) (United Nations, 2015). To conclude, it is important to note that these various models and theorisations demonstrate how agency can be partial, conditioned, and situated beyond the individual child. Furthermore, even though the literature suggests that we need to tune into the scale of everyday life and attend to children’s competencies rather than their limitations, we need to be attentive in not getting focused solely on the microgeographies of childhood. To this effect, Actor-network theory (Latour, 1996) and the idea of networks may provide an opening to help us move to a multi-scalar analysis that will enable us to examine webs of connection between local experiences, global processes, and reproductions of childhood (Christensen & O’Brien, 2003).

References Abbott-Chapman, J., & Robertson, M. (2009). Adolescents’ favourite places: Redefining the boundaries between private and public space. Space and Culture, 12(4), 419–434. Alarasi, H., Martinez, J., & Amer, S. (2016). Children’s perception of their city centre: A qualitative GIS methodological investigation in a Dutch city. Children’s Geographies, 14(4), 437–452. Bartlett, S. (1999). Children’s experience of the physical environment in poor urban settlements and the implications for policy, planning and practice. Environment and Urbanization, 11(2), 63–74. Berglund, U., & Nordin, K. (2007). Using GIS to make young people’s voices heard in urban planning. Built Environment, 33(4), 469–481. Bourdieu, P. (1990). Structures, habitus, practices. Stanford University Press. Büscher, M., & Urry, J. (2009). Mobile methods and the empirical. European Journal of Social Theory, 12(1), 99–116. Carroll, P., Calder-Dawe, O., Witten, K., & Asiasiga, L. (2019). A prefigurative politics of play in public places: Children claim their democratic right to the city through play. Space and Culture, 22(3), 294–307. Central Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Regionale kerncijfers Nederland. https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/cij fers/detail/70072ned Chawla, L. (2016). Growing up in an urbanizing world. Routledge. Christensen, P., & O’Brien, M. (2003). Children in the city. RoutledgeFalmer. Cope, M., & Elwood, S. (2009). Qualitative GIS: A mixed methods approach. Sage. Craig, G. (2007). Community capacity-building: Something old, something new...? Critical Social Policy, 27(3), 335–359.

112

H. AlArasi et al.

De Vries, S. I., Hopman-Rock, M., Bakker, I., Hirasing, R. A., & Van Mechelen, W. (2010). Built environmental correlates of walking and cycling in Dutch urban children: Results from the SPACE study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7(5), 2309–2324. Driskell, D. (2017). Creating better cities with children and youth: A manual for participation. Routledge. Enschede-Stad. (2014). Geschiedenis van enschede. https://www.enschede-stad.nl/viewforum. php?f=9 Fainstein, S. S. (2010). The just city. Cornell University Press. Frank, K. I. (2006). The potential of youth participation in planning. Journal of Planning Literature, 20(4), 351–371. Freeman, C. (2006). Colliding worlds: planning with children and young people for better cities. In Creating child friendly cities (pp. 81–97). Routledge. Gleeson, B., & Sipe, N. (2006). Creating child friendly cities: Reinstating kids in the city. Routledge. Hart, R. A. (1992). Children’s participation: From tokenism to citizenship. International Child Development Center. James, A. (2004). Understanding childhood from an interdisciplinary perspective: Problems and potentials. In P. B. Pufall & R. P. Unsworth (Eds.), Rethinking childhood (pp. 25–37). Rutgers University Press. James, A., Jenks, C., & Prout, A. (1998). Theorizing childhood. Teachers College Press Jans, M. (2004). Children as citizens: Towards a contemporary notion of child participation. Childhood, 11(1), 27–44. Jennings, L. B., Parra-Medina, D. M., Hilfinger-Messias, D. K., & McLoughlin, K. (2006). Toward a critical social theory of youth empowerment. Journal of Community Practice, 14(1–2), 31–55. Jongen, E. L. W., Muns, S., Thijs, C., Boer, H.-W. D., Dagevos, J., Dillingh, R., Ebregt, J., Huijnk, W., Karpinska, K., & Klaver, J. (2020). Kansrijk integratiebeleid op de arbeidsmarkt: Beleidsopties voor het verbeteren van de arbeidsmarktuitkomsten van personen met een migratieachtergrond. Centraal Planbureau. https://www.cpb.nl/sites/default/files/omnidownload/Kansrijk_integratiebe leid_op_de_arbeidsmarkt2.pdf Kyttä, M. (2004). The extent of children’s independent mobility and the number of actualized affordances as criteria for child-friendly environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(2), 179–198. Latour, B. (1996). On actor-network theory: A few clarifications. Soziale Welt, 47, 369–381. Laughlin, D. L., & Johnson, L. C. (2011). Defining and exploring public space: Perspectives of young people from Regent Park Toronto. Children’s Geographies, 9(3–4), 439–456. Law, M., Petrenchik, T., King, G., & Hurley, P. (2007). Perceived environmental barriers to recreational, community, and school participation for children and youth with physical disabilities. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88(12), 1636–1642. Lekies, K. S., Baker, B., & Baldini, J. (2009). Assessing participation in youth community action projects: Opportunities and barriers. Community Development, 40(4), 346–358. Lui, J. (2004). To engage or not to engage—what is our policy. Environmental Youth Alliance. http:// www.eya.ca/yaec/for_rsrch_story_05.html. Accessed 30 March 2021. Lynch, K. (1977). Growing up in Cities: Studies of the spatial environment of adolescence in Cracow, Melbourne, Mexico City, Salta, Toluca, and Warszawa. MIT press. Martinez, J., McCall, M., & Preto, I. (2017). Children and Young people’s perceptions of risk and quality of life conditions in their communities: Participatory mapping cases in Portugal. In G. Tonon (Ed.), Quality of life in communities of Latin countries (pp. 205–225). Springer International Publishing. Oswell, D. (2013). The agency of children: From family to global human rights. Cambridge University Press. Pater, B. C. D., Hoekveld, G. A., & Ginkel, J. A. V. (1989). Nederland in delen: Een regionale geografie. De haan/Unieboek. Percy-Smith, B. (2013). Participation as mediation and social learning: Empowering children as actors in social contexts. In Participation, facilitation, and mediation (pp. 24–41). Routledge.

6 Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Children’s Participation …

113

Piaget, J. (1976). Piaget’s theory. In Piaget and his school (pp. 11–23). Springer. Prout, A. (2004). The future of childhood. Routledge. RAND Europe & Eurochild. (2021). Study on child participation in EU political and democratic life. RAND Europe. Rubel, L. H., Hall-Wieckert, M., & Lim, V. Y. (2017). Making space for place: Mapping tools and practices to teach for spatial justice. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 26(4), 643–687. Santo, C. A., Ferguson, N., & Trippel, A. (2010). Engaging urban youth through technology: The youth neighborhood mapping initiative. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 30(1), 52–65. Simpson, B. (1997). Towards the participation of children and young people in urban planning and design. Urban Studies, 34(5–6), 907–925. Tisdall, E. K. M. (2015). Children and young people’s participation: A critical consideration of Article 12. In Routledge international handbook of children’s rights studies (pp. 201–216). Routledge. UNICEF. (2004). Building child friendly cities: A framework for action. UNICEF. United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professio nalinterest/pages/crc.aspx United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. UN Publishing. United Nations. (2017). The new urban agenda, A/RES/71/256. Habitat III and United Nations. Valentine, G. (1997). ” Oh yes I can.”“Oh no you can’t”: Children and parents’ understandings of kids’ competence to negotiate public space safely. Antipode, 29(1), 65–89. Veale, A. (2006). Child-centred research with ethnic minority populations: Methodological, ethical and practical challenges. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 27(1–2), 25–36. Ward, C. (1978). The child in the city. Society, 15(4), 84–91. Wilson, N., Dasho, S., Martin, A. C., Wallerstein, N., Wang, C. C., & Minkler, M. (2007). Engaging young adolescents in social action through photovoice: The youth empowerment strategies (YES!) project. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 27(2), 241–261. Wridt, P. (2010). A qualitative GIS approach to mapping urban neighborhoods with children to promote physical activity and child-friendly community planning. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 37(1), 129–147. Zeldin, S. (2004). Youth as agents of adult and community development: Mapping the processes and outcomes of youth engaged in organizational governance. Applied Developmental Science, 8(2), 75–90.

Haifa AlArasi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, Canada. With a bachelor’s in architecture and an MSc. In Geo-information Science, her practical and research interests include grounded visualizations, children’s and youth geographies, and participatory methodologies. Specifically, she employs critical mapping and creative or virtual methodologies to broaden constructions of marginalized bodies and their associated experiences that are embedded in the environment, the social, and the material of the urban realm. Javier Martinez He is Associate Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management within the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, the Netherlands. He graduated as an architect from the Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Design of Rosario National University (UNR), Argentina. He earned his MSc in Geo-Information for Urban Planning from ITC, University of Twente, and his PhD from the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, for his thesis Monitoring Intra-Urban Inequalities with GIS-Based Indicators: With a Case Study in Rosario, Argentina. His research, publications, and teaching experience focus on applying GIS, mixed methods and indicators for policymaking, urban poverty and quality-of-life and intra-urban inequalities. From 2010 until November 2014, he was Co-Coordinator of the Network-Association of European

114

H. AlArasi et al.

Researchers on Urbanization in the South (N-AERUS). Since 2017, he has been a member of the International Society of Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) board of directors. Sherif Amer is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and GeoInformation Management within the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, the Netherlands. He obtained his Master of Science degree in Human Geography at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands, a Postgraduate diploma in Geo-Information Systems for Urban Applications from ITC, and his PhD from the University of Utrecht. Research activities focus on the application of Geo-information science methods and techniques for spatial planning of health care services, analysis of socio-spatial health seeking patterns, environmental health risk analysis, and the relation between socio-economic characteristics, health behaviour status and health behaviour. He is currently the chair of the International Society of Geospatial Health (GnosisGIS), a member of the International Society of Urban Health (ISUH), and associate editor of the international journal Geospatial Health.

Chapter 7

Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? An Analysis of the Case of Colombia Nicolás Brando and Alexandra Echeverry

Abstract Colombia is at a crucial stage in its transitional process from armed conflict to peace. The Peace Treaty signed in 2016 between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP; Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo) was a major milestone in this transition, setting the groundwork for the disarming, demobilization, and reintegration of former combatants back into society. The disarmament and demobilization of the FARC forces implied, however, that a massive number of children recruited by the guerrillas were demobilized and are in the process of reintegration into society. In the last 18 years, around 15,000 children were recruited, and more than 5000 have been demobilized in Colombia. Realizing justice for these children and youth who have been demobilized is not an easy task; many questions arise. How should demobilized child soldiers be treated by the judicial system? Are they victims of the armed conflict? Should they be held accountable for their crimes? What to do with child soldiers who are demobilized after becoming adults? What should the process of recovery and reintegration entail? Is attempting to “return” them to normalcy an option? How can we make them active participants in their reintegration process? This chapter aims to analyze the law and policy that regulate the recovery and reintegration of demobilized child soldiers in Colombia in order to explore these more ample questions on the just treatment of child soldiers. It will do so with a particular focus on the mechanisms through which it is decided if ex-child combatants are criminally liable for their actions, and on the rationale and mechanisms implemented to reintegrate child combatants. The chapter uses the rights enshrined in Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as a tool to assess whether the law and policy for reintegration ensure that children’s rights and fundamental interests are protected. Keyword Child soldiers · Colombia · Demobilization · Transitional justice · Restorative justice N. Brando (B) School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK e-mail: [email protected] A. Echeverry Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF), Bogota, Colombia © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_7

115

116

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

7.1 Introduction Armed conflict is among the worst situations in which a child can live. Death, hunger, loss of their home, abductions and displacement are everyday experiences for children living in war-torn communities. Their rights are systematically violated, and governments tend to have little capacity to ensure that armed conflict does not affect the lives, needs and interest of the child population. Ensuring social justice for children requires, first and foremost, protecting their fundamental rights as humans and as children. However, difficulty of access to war zones, and the clustering number of harms that threaten children in them, means that, even when governments and social organisations are willing to protect children, and even when laws are in place to secure the rights and interests of children in war zones, enforcement can be inadequate. Among the child population in war-affected regions, probably the most problematic groups to deal with from a social justice perspective is that of children actively associated with armed forces. By ‘child’, we follow the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), meaning “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier” (UNGA, 1989, Art.1). We will use the term ‘child soldier’ to refer to “children who take direct part in hostilities”, and, following the Paris Principles, the term ‘children associated with armed groups’ to refer to: any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities. (UNICEF, 2007, p. 7)

Children do not only suffer armed conflict passively; in order to cope with their lived reality and ensure survival, they tend to take a plurality of active roles during conflict, sometimes compulsory or forced, but often voluntarily (Boyden & de Berry, 2010, p. xv). The idea of children being actively involved and aiding armed groups challenges some of our most basic moral intuitions about the status of children. Standard conceptions of ‘childhood’ tend to reflect notions of vulnerability, innocence and dependence, while their association to armed groups create a conflicting notion of violence, threat, and sometimes criminality (Derluyn et al., 2015, p. 29). These conflicting perceptions of the status of children engaged with armed groups opens difficult questions from a perspective of justice. What treatment are they owed? What does justice require for child soldiers and children engaged with armed groups? Ought they be understood strictly as victims of war, despite of the active role they may have played in conflict? Or should they be considered as perpetrators of crime, even if they may have been coerced to play an active role in hostilities? Focusing on the case of child soldiers and children associated with armed groups in Colombia, this chapter analyses the standard discourses surrounding the status of child soldiers (as victims and as perpetrators) and assesses how these reflect and relate to law and policy. Our aim is to understand the impact that notions of child soldiers as victims or as perpetrators can have on how they are treated, and how they deal with their actions.

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

117

The case of Colombia is a valuable one to study as Colombia has among the highest number of officially demobilised child soldiers, and one in which the stories and issues of children disengaged from the armed forces are regularly on the media and on the public eye. By looking at the situation of child soldiers in Colombia, we attempt to provide a tentative assessment of the impact that different discourses on child soldiers promoted by law, policy and the media can have in the lives of children disengaged from armed conflict. We aim to show that strict binary understandings of children associated to armed groups as either solely victims of war or perpetrators of crime is insufficient to highlight the lived experiences of these individuals, and inadequate to deal with them both in law, and in practice. Section 7.2 provides a context to the Colombian conflict, the impact it has had on children in Colombia, and the basic figures on recruitment and demobilisation of children involved in the armed conflict. Section 7.3 introduces the core international and Colombian law and policy that regulate the status, rights, and treatment of children involved in armed conflict, and provides a brief overview of the mechanisms in place in the Colombian context to reintegrate former child soldiers and restore their status as right-holders. Section 7.4 provides an analysis of the standard discourses that frame the status of child soldiers (as victim and as criminal). Section 7.5 critically analyses these discourses and considers the need for a more plural and context-sensitive assessment of the situation of former child soldiers in order to do justice to their varied needs and claims. Section 7.6 concludes.

7.2 The Colombian Armed Conflict The Colombian armed conflict is a complex one due to the various actors, interests, and stakes involved. Throughout the more than 60 years that the conflict has lasted, the Colombian government, far-left guerrilla groups [The FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army), the ELN (National Liberation Army), and the EPL (Popular Liberation Army), are some of the most relevant among them], far-right paramilitary groups, and various crime syndicates have been fighting for control over the territory, and for influence over the Colombian population. The Colombian government, through its National Army and National Police, claims to fight for stability, order, justice, and the protection of the needs and interests of its population. The left-wing guerrilla movements (i.e. FARC-EP, ELN) appeal to the need to establish a communist political system that protects the rights of the poor and the peasantry from government violence. The right-wing paramilitary groups claim that they are a reactive response to guerrilla violence and to lack of government control, aiming to protect the land and property of the Colombian population. However, drug-trafficking, de facto control over territory, and other economic and political interests encouraged by multinational corporations and other states have been structural in enabling and perpetuating the violent conflict. In its more than 60 years, the Colombian conflict has left almost 270,000 casualties (around 80% being civilians) (CNMH, 2021), 80,000 forced disappearances, almost 30,000

118

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

kidnappings, around 5 million displaced, and thousands of victims of sexual violence (CNMH, 2012; Martín Fernández, 2020, p. 11). The Colombian government and the FARC-EP leadership signed a historic peace agreement in 2016 to end the armed conflict between them. The agreement included the demobilisation and disarmament of all FARC soldiers, their inclusion in society as political actors, the creation of a rural development plan, a solution to issues stemming from drug-trafficking, and appropriate mechanisms to address the claims and needs of the victims of conflict (OHPC, 2016). Children and youths have been hit particularly hard by the conflict. Among them, indigenous and Afro-Colombian children have been affected disproportionately. Not only due to their direct recruitment in armed forces, but also due to mass displacement, loss of parents, and as civil casualties (UNSC, 2019, Art. II, 15). According to data from the Colombian government (CV, 2021) around 2.3 million children have been displaced from their home, 45,000 have been killed, and almost one third of the 9 million registered victims of the conflict are underage (Dixon, 2016). Recruitment of children by armed groups is a thorny issue in the Colombian conflict. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) established after the 2016 Peace Agreement, has determined 18,677 as a provisional figure of the recruitment of minors by the FARC-EP alone (JEP, 2021). To this figure, one must add the tentative figure of about 9000 ex-combatants who were recruited as minors but who have demobilised after turning 18 years old (El Tiempo, 2020). It is considered that throughout the 60 years of conflict, 40 percent of guerrilla combatants joined ranks before they turned 18 (Salamanca Sarmiento, 2019, p. 29). Children have an ambivalent relationship with armed groups in Colombia. On the one hand, the army, the guerrillas and the paramilitary groups have all committed horrendous atrocities against civil populations, making them to be perceived as sources of violence, inflicting threats, massacres, and forced displacement to local populations; on the other hand, however, lack of government presence in many regions of the country implies that armed groups can be the source of security and protection for communities, they establish laws, norms, and provide basic needs like medicine, food, and work (Martín Fernández, 2020, p. 12). The stories you encounter on children retelling their life during conflict, show a complex relationship in which they not only suffer it, but cope with it, adapt to it, and live with it (Salamanca Sarmiento, 2019, p. 95). Children receive subsidies from armed groups, their family’s crops are protected, and most must deal with them daily, be it through buying and selling, as representatives of the law, as workers in coca farms, or cocaine laboratories (Lozano, 2014; Santiago, 2007). In short, the relationship and dynamics between armed groups and Colombian children is varied and highly complex. Contact and engagement with armed groups is a normal phenomenon for children in many regions of the country, and associating with them, and taking direct part in hostilities may not be considered as exceptional in many cases.

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

119

7.3 Law and Policy for Child Soldiers 7.3.1 International Law The involvement of children in armed conflict is heavily legislated in international conventions and legal documents. Article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UNGA, 1989) requires States to not allow individuals under 15 years of age to take active part in hostilities (Art.38.2), to refrain from recruiting individuals under the age of 15 (Art.38.3), and to ensure that all rules of humanitarian law are enforced for children’s benefit (Arts. 38.1, 38.4). Article 38 of the UNCRC was refined by the Optional Protocol on Children and Armed Conflict (OPAC) (UNGA, 2000), in which, most prominently, the minimum age for engaging in direct hostilities is raised to the age of 18 (Art.1), minimum age for recruitment should be raised from 15 (Art. 2), and explicitly refers to non-state armed groups and requires these groups not to recruit in any capacity individuals under the age of 18 (Art.4) (see analysis in Breen, 2007; Drumbl & Tobin, 2019). The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour (ILO, 1999) explicitly refers to “forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict” as a serious offence, and as a priority area for States to ensure that children are protected from exploitative labour (Art. 3.a). As to the treatment of children who have been a part of armed conflict in terms of justice and criminal responsibility, the Committee of the Rights of the Child General Comment 24 (CRC, 2019) works as a useful guideline for the general standards for treatment of children by the justice system, and the particular treatment for children in armed conflict. It highlights the need to ensure that criminal acts by minors entail lesser culpability than the same act perpetrated by an adult, and that a separate judicial system should be in place to address their actions (CRC, 2019, Art. I.2). The child justice system should attempt to avoid to the highest possible degree resorting to judicial proceedings (especially restriction of liberty), rather taking restorative approaches to deal with their actions (CRC, 2019, Arts. III, 8; IV, B. 15). Restorative justice is defined as: any process in which the victim, the offender and/or any other individual or community member affected by a crime actively participates together in the resolution of matters arising from the crime, often with the help of a fair and impartial third party. Examples of restorative process include mediation, conferencing, conciliation and sentencing circles. (CRC, 2019, Art. III, 8)

The General Comment emphasises that, especially in the case of children engaged in armed conflict, children “should be treated primarily as victims of violations of international law” (CRC, 2019, Art. IV, F. 100) because their recruitment was unlawful (see ILO, 1999 and UNGA, 2000, above).

120

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

7.3.2 Colombian Law Regarding domestic legislation, Article 44 of the Colombian Constitution establishes children and adolescents as subjects of special constitutional protection. It creates an obligation to society and the State to assist and protect minors, given their particular vulnerability as persons who are beginning their lives and building their own identities, thus, who are in a situation of defencelessness, requiring special attention (CCC, 2018). However, Colombia’s internal armed conflict, and the long-lived practice of recruitment and use of children by illegal armed groups, has created a particular need to build a strong legal framework to address the issue. As a result, authorities have established a system to prevent this from becoming a reality for the country’s children and adolescents, and to reinstate their rights -when it has already happened to them- to personal integrity, life, liberty, free development of personality, expression, education, health, family and recreation, among others (CCC, 2004). In this respect, the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) has provided special assistance to demobilised children and adolescents—and their families—since 1999 to this day (ICBF, 2016a), and through the Code for Children and Adolescents (CC, 2006) these programmes were brought into line with the principles enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Accordingly, to this legal and technical framework -before the age of 18- the person who disengages from conflict, will always be considered a victim (CC, 2011). Thus, through its reestablishment of rights programme, the ICBF provides care for children and adolescents who disengage, in order to restore their dignity and integrity and to provide them the capacity to effectively exercise the rights that have been taken away from them, as an attempt to return them to a life with normality, to offer them access to a dignifying life project and the possibility to participate in society as citizens with full rights. Nevertheless, the Colombian justice system, with its adolescent penal responsibility system (SRPA), requires judicial authorities to investigate and judge crimes allegedly committed by minors between 14 and 18 years of age, and—in the event of the process concluding with sanction—it is the ICBF that leads the development and implementation of the programmes through which adolescents serve the imposed sanction (CC, 2006). Adolescents (between 14 and 18 years of age) who were engaged in armed groups and demobilise, can enter the reestablishment programme, or the adolescent penal responsibility system, depending on the public prosecutor’s allocation and the judge’s ruling.

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

121

7.4 Discourses on Child Soldiers As can be interpreted from the brief mapping of the international and Colombian law and policy on the issue of child soldiering, a core element that arises from analysing official documentation on the subject is an attempt at homogenising the experiences and lives of child combatants in order to make them fit into expected narratives of childhood. While the law and policy tend to emphasise and reify children involved in armed conflict as victims (regardless of the role they played), community responses to children disengaged from armed groups, and public discourses of politicians and many news outlets reflect an opposing understanding and narrative for these children’s lives; namely, as irredeemable criminals. As will be shown, children going through reintegration processes must navigate these conflicting and highly binary imposed labels, and this is something that may strongly impact their own conceptions of their agency, responsibility and guilt in relation to their past.

7.4.1 Child as Victim The dominant narrative that frames our conceptualisation of child soldiers is understanding them as “passive victims” (Ladisch, 2013). This trickles down directly from international legislation and international non-governmental narratives of ‘childhood’ as a vulnerable stage of life in need of protection against the harms and penuries inflicted on them during armed conflict by exploitative and manipulative adults (Derluyn et al., 2015, p. 34). The basic claim is that child soldiers, because of being children, are necessarily faultless of any action committed during armed conflict as they are, by definition, incapable of understanding the consequences of their actions, and too immature to consent to the acts that they commit (Drumbl, 2012, pp. 6–7). Moreover, the circumstances under which they enrol into armed groups (usually tied to poverty, destitution, and threat of death to them or family members) implies that they are under vulnerable conditions in which they are not capable of dissenting from the behaviour expected by their superiors (Drumbl, 2012, p. 15). Moral agency is considered as entirely absent or “systematically subverted” in their circumstances (McMahan, 2010, p. 32). Thus, regardless of the actions they may have carried out while enlisted as soldiers, and regardless of the voluntariness of their decision to take part in armed conflict, they are defined as unable to make a truly voluntary decision, nor to understand the risks and moral complications of their actions (Fabre, 2018, p. 411). Colombia’s legal framework offers a broad definition and protection for children and adolescents who have been involved in the armed conflict by illegal groups, recognising their status as victims. Law No. 418 of 1997 (CC, 1997), the first official and legal recognition as victims of political violence for any person under 18 years of age who takes part in hostilities, requires the ICBF to design and implement a special

122

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

protection programme to assist them as victims. Law No. 1448 of 2011 (CC, 2011), establishes that members of organised illegal armed groups shall not be considered victims, except in cases in which the children or adolescents demobilise from the armed group when they are still underage (in accordance with the constitutional protection afforded to children and adolescents). But why is this narrative so predominant? In part, creating a blanket discourse of all children as victims is a necessary consequence of the binary opposition of adulthood and childhood. The enforceability of law depends, in part, on “legal fictions” that construct clear and distinguishable categories with which to operate (Drumbl, 2012, p. 19). Coordinating international action, marshalling resources, and facilitating children’s reintegration to their communities requires a narrative that admonishes them from blame or liability (Utas, 2011, p. 215). International support for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes (DDR) targeted at children and youth, which bypass traditional criminal processes depend on the image of the child soldier as ‘victim’ in order to accrue compassion and help; moreover, reintegration of disengaged child soldiers back into their local communities, where the population may be reticent of their return, rely on convincing the local population that these children are not at fault; not only needing the community to perceive them as ‘victims’ but the former child soldiers themselves ought to believe it and sell it also (Salamanca Sarmiento, 2019, p. 120).

7.4.2 Child as Criminal In stark opposition to the ‘victim’ narrative, it is not surprising to find journalistic accounts, government declarations, and local responses that stand in radical denial of the claim of child soldiers’ victimhood; they are often portrayed as irredeemable, as rotten, as incorrigible, and, in short, as nothing but criminals (Drumbl, 2012, p. 8). The criminal narrative stems from various sources. First, child soldiers are regularly forced by their superiors to commit acts of atrocity within their ranks or on their local communities in order to prove their allegiance and their commitment to the group. This means that in many instances, the image that these children leave in their local towns are of violence and cruelty. Many former child soldiers themselves grapple with the ambiguity of their guilt and responsibility. A man who was enrolled in the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia reflects: “I continue to think that inside of me I am a perpetrator and a victim. And that inside of me I’ve never thought I’m a good person. I always think I’m a bad kid and I’m a bad person” (Quoted in Thomason, 2016, p. 118). Moreover, despite those official governmental discourses on child soldiers emphasise the victim narrative, this discourse tends to shift when needed, in order to justify military actions by the government forces on armed groups. For example, in two separate bombings of guerrilla and dissident bases in 2021 in Colombia (March and September), five children were killed (El Espectador, 2021). The current Colombian Minister of Defence, in both instances justified the act by putting the blame on the

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

123

groups that have recruited children, and by appealing to the justifiability of the act due to the high profile of the other targets killed in the attack (El Espectador, 2021). The Minister went as far as to claim that children enrolled in armed groups have been transformed into “war machines”, which made them legitimate government targets (Turkewitz & Villamil, 2021). Portrayal of child soldiers as villainous criminals can work as a strategy to justify certain government actions, but it also reflects the relationship and fear that many local communities have regarding the return of former child soldiers. Many child soldiers must pass through gruesome initiation processes in which, in many cases, they ought to prove their allegiance to the armed group by burning their bridges with their communities. This means that their return may not be as simple, as local communities may be reticent of accepting their return.

7.4.3 Issues with Binaries and Homogeneity The construction of strict narratives for how child soldiers are portrayed is, without a doubt, not an entirely innocent issue (even if it has good intentions). Strict narratives of child soldiers, be them as victims or as perpetrators serve political purposes (Drumbl, 2012, p. 9). They reify and homogenise the plural and intersectional reality of the lives of child soldiers, and they alienate children from their diverse lived experiences during armed conflict (Wells, 2015, p. 181). As to victimhood, the construction of binaries and oppositions, and the emphasis of children as victims of war aims to improve community support, funding and backing for the cause (Salamanca Sarmiento, 2019, pp. 93–117); on the other hand, criminal narratives serve a fundamental political purpose, as governments can use them in order to justify violent action against armed groups. A first issue, thus, with this strict construction of narratives is the strategic selectivity inherent in their use (Drumbl, 2012, p. 10). While, in theory, victimhood serves a valuable strategic purpose (gathering support and funding for the reintegration of former child soldiers into society), its focus on highlighting the vulnerability, trauma, and need for protection tends to work against an acknowledgement of children’s agency, and the potentially active role they should play in their reintegration into their communities, and in dealing with their own actions and past (Derluyn et al., 2015, p. 31). In an interview with a Colombian former child soldier after watching a documentary on the impact of armed conflict on a civilian population, he mentioned his feeling of guilt and responsibility over the actions he had done while in conflict, and that he wanted to make amends and deal with his responsibility. Experts in charge of his reintegration process rejected his willingness to act on his responsibility by claiming that “He is a child, he needs to study, that’s his only responsibility.” (Salamanca Sarmiento, 2019, p. 106). By being conceptualised as a victim of the conflict he was barred from engaging actively with his responsibility and his feeling of guilt. This shows that the strict constructions can lead to problematic “narrative tensions” for the former child soldiers themselves, and for the social workers and

124

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

other people working with them (Rubio, 2015). The reduction of the diverse and intersectional realities and lived experiences of individual child soldiers into binary categories limits the possibility for children themselves to engage with their lives, their past and their futures as active agents. It forces them to accommodate and internalise the narrative structure, binding their chance of taking responsibility for their actions, and of engaging with their realities in a more active and individualised manner (Drumbl, 2012, p. 11). In order to make a living post-conflict, during demobilisation processes former child soldiers have been forced to reproduce common narratives of child soldiering, leaving them unable to escape normative accounts of child soldiers, or, alternatively, they have had to neglect their past completely, in order to try and escape the weight of the figure of the child soldier. (Salamanca Sarmiento, 2019, p. 31)

Omitting the lived experiences of former child soldiers and homogenising their status as if the variations based on age, gender, disability, ethnicity, etc. do not matter can have very problematic implications for their reintegration processes (Özerdem and Podder, 2011, p. 8). The reasons why children and adolescents take part in armed conflict, their experiences while in conflict, their relationship with their local communities and their past all differ to such a high extent, that attempting to provide clear binary categories to box them in does not benefit them in any way (Boyden & de Berry, 2010, p. xv).

7.4.4 Pluralising Childhood The homogenisation of the portrayal and status of child soldiers reflects a wider problem of the homogenisation of childhood as a life-stage in general (Brando, 2019, pp. 273–276). The fact that we delimit treatment of children through strict age binaries tends to trap children’s lived experiences in idealised, and sometimes corrosive categories. In the case of child soldiers, the child/adult distinction in treatment can be harmful to individuals at both sides of the dividing line (Drumbl, 2012, p. 13). On the one hand, the assumption of absolute victimhood of minors fails to perceive them as active agents who, in many cases, have enrolled voluntarily and willingly into armed conflict. In his memoire, a former child soldier enlisted in the FARCEP when he was 12 years-old, portrays a picture of the engagement of children in armed conflict very different from the pure victimhood discourse (Santiago, 2007). Despite some family issues and an unstable home environment, before enlisting with the FARC-EP he had sufficient opportunities in life. He had access to an education, he had guardians who took care of him, fed him, gave him work. He had trouble, however, staying in one place and keeping a routine, so he moved from aunt, to uncle, to brother, to friend, till he ended up going to a FARC-EP meeting in town, and requested to enlist in the guerrilla army (Santiago, 2007, pp. 30–35). He was not forced to do so, he was not even asked to enlist; he went to the woods out of his own accord, and, despite the hesitance of the officers to recruit someone that young, he insisted that he wanted to be a soldier (Santiago, 2007, pp. 43–44).

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

125

This case is not necessarily the standard. However, the point is, precisely, that issues such as this require an awareness of the variations beyond the standard. The relationship of an individual with the life chosen -or the life forced to be chosen- vary greatly depending on development stage, socioeconomic situation, family situation, peer relationships, and personal preferences; that is, on conversion factors (Brando, 2020, pp. 255–256). Age and developmental stage are particularly important intersections when studying the status and condition of former child combatants. It seems arbitrary to draw a clear line between a 17 and an 18-year-old’s enrolment in armed conflict. Can one positively state that the former is a victim of conflict while the latter is a perpetrator of conflict? (McMahan, 2010, p. 34). Moreover, the issue of treatment of individuals enlisted as children in armed forces but demobilised as adults begs the question from the opposite side. The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 2019) considers that when dealing with adults who committed offenses before the age of majority, despite being adults, they should be trailed through the child justice system (CRC, 2019, Art. IV, C, 31, 36). This rarely happens in the case of demobilised adults who, in many cases had been enlisted as children in armed forces. In Colombia’s legal framework, there is a diffuse panorama for those who have been part of the armed conflict since they were children. When they come of age, and they are confronted with the criminal justice system, there is no institutional route that makes it possible to recognise those who joined the illegal armed structures when they were children or adolescents but demobilised when adults. Those who joined armed groups as minors (and face the criminal justice system as adults) can access the transitional justice system provided for in Law No. 975 of 2005 (CC, 2005), a more favourable treatment than that of the ordinary justice system. However, they are not eligible for the special constitutional treatment ensured to minors (CCC, 2012). It is relevant to ask whether the fact that they were minors and victims of forced recruitment when they began their association with armed groups, should imply that the special legislation and treatment be adopted and ensured when they enter the criminal justice system, despite them being adults. A judicial system ought to be capable of navigating the tensions posed by a demobilised child soldier’s ambiguous status as a victim, as a perpetrator, as guilty and as innocent (Drumbl, 2012, p. 34). Recommendations and observations by the UN Security Council on the armed conflict in Colombia (UNSC, 2019) have emphasised the need to ensure that the processes of transitional and restorative justice put in place by the Peace Agreement provide special protection for demobilised child soldiers as victims, as witnesses, and as perpetrators of violence and conflict (UNSC, 2017, Art. 6, j). It considers that any such judicial process in which a demobilised minor is affected should always take the child’s best interests as a primary consideration and as a priority when assessing how to address their plural status (UNSC, 2019, Art. VI, 79).

126

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

7.5 Victims or Criminals? Vulnerable or Autonomous? While we do not attempt to give final answers or normative prescriptions regarding the conceptualisation, categorisation and perceptions of demobilised child soldiers, in this chapter we aimed to open a discussion regarding some of the issues with applying strict binaries to deal with cases such as this, and to propose tentative guidelines for potential roads forward. The discourses that conceptualise child soldiers in a particular way have a strong impact on how society perceives them, on how policymakers and politicians deal with them, how they are treated by the legal and judicial systems, and, very importantly, how former child combatants perceive themselves, their past and their role in their reintegration process. Binary distinctions between victims and perpetrators, between vulnerable and autonomous individuals, and between guilty and innocent parties in a conflict are at odds with the lived reality of children who have been a part in armed conflicts. While discourses of vulnerability, innocence and victimhood provide important safeguards and special protections to former child soldiers, they throw under the rug an important part of what these children and youths have lived through, and how they deal with their own past, their actions and their choices. They incapacitate these individuals in an important way; they restrict an individual’s capacity to affront their actions, and it limits their understanding of themselves as active and autonomous agents capable of making choices, making mistakes, and working to amend the errors in their past. The reflections of a demobilised Colombian child soldier portray this problem of silencing: Everyone judges me without knowing my past […] When I talk and unburden myself, people judge me. I cry for my childhood. When I want to share what I live they don’t listen because they say I’m strong. I want someone to listen. I don’t want pity, I don’t want compassion, I don’t want to be that person who’s alive but dead; I don’t want these pills that make me keep quiet. (16-year-old girl, in Duque, 2017, p. 117; translations by the authors)

The silencing and incapacitating of child soldiers are particularly concerning as it relates to girls associated with armed groups. Research by Nabuco Martuschelli and Bandarra (2020) with girl soldiers in Colombia portray the obstacles (the triple silencing) that affect demobilised girl soldiers due to their stereotyped and homogenising portrayal and treatment in the media, by public authorities and their communities (2020, pp. 231–232). Girls associated with armed groups tend to be portrayed as being coerced to join, and as taking mainly roles as cooks or sexual partners (2020, pp. 226–228), despite those figures show high levels of voluntariness in joining armed groups (Springer, 2012), and that they play a myriad of roles while enlisted (intelligence, patrolling, combat, health services) (CNMH, 2017). The ambiguity in portrayal by society, and child soldiers’ self-regard is patent in testimonies of demobilised girl soldiers from the Antioquia region of Colombia, and the contrast with how their community perceive them (Carmona Parra et al., 2012). Asking the girl soldiers, and various other groups in civil society (students, teachers and police officers) about the reasons why children enlist in armed groups, showed that while almost half of the girl soldiers (46 percent) considered their enrolment as

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

127

a voluntary choice made because it suited their interests, goals and desires, around 70 percent of the individuals from civil society assumed them as necessarily being involved as victims (i.e. due to coercion, poverty or domestic violence) (Carmona Parra et al., 2012, p. 763). On the other hand, discourses of full autonomy, of guilt, and of child soldiers as fully conscious and voluntary perpetrators of crime omit to consider the conditions under which many of these children and youth came into armed conflict. They neglect (sometimes on purpose) the social and economic conditions which force many children to take part in armed conflict, and they are blind to the plural roles that children may play in armed groups, and the most often exploitative, oppressive, and harmful conditions with which they must coexist while in conflict. Even if testimonies from demobilised child soldiers point towards a more autonomous and self-assertive understanding of their relationship and enrolment with armed groups, the fact that many of these choices tend to be made under duress, and in a context of poverty, need and violence, must make us take any absolute statement with a pinch of salt. The reflection of a demobilised Colombian child soldier on his ambiguous relationship with his choices portrays the difficulty of criminalising victims, or victimising criminals: All my life I’ve been criticised for my past, but no one understands that I had only one bifurcation in my path. I had to choose, and I chose the path I chose because I thought it was the best for me now. But I was mistaken, and that’s when my horrible past -that I wish to forget- began. (15-year-old, boy in Duque, 2017, p. 17)

Emphasising victimhood incapacitates and takes children’s control and agency over their life and choices from them. Emphasising criminality, however, omits the cruel socio-economic context in which child soldiers live, and how certain actions may be necessary coping mechanisms to survive in dire circumstances (Derluyn et al., 2015, pp. 34–35). This is a problem that affects the Colombian case, not only at the level of perceptions, but as it relates to the law and policy in place to deal with the issue of demobilised child soldiers. The tensions that exist between the possible fates that a person who, having been recruited as a minor, faces in the Colombian judicial and administrative system are decisive. A reparation system in which an individual’s condition as a victim is put in peril, if her status is consistently questioned by the assumed responsibility over actions taken during conflict, even when they were incurred as a child or adolescent. On the one hand, when imposing a sanction, judges must consider the variables and particularities of each child’s context. In the particular case of minors that have been part of criminal and armed groups, and victims of forced recruitment, the judge’s decision of choosing between the different ICBF paths of reintegration (the reestablishment of rights or the adolescent penal responsibility programme) can change the person’s life. And the line that determines the method chosen is thin. From the kind of care provided to children and adolescents disengaged from armed groups to the implication of a sanction in the form of a restriction of freedom, when judges rule in favour of the responsibility of a demobilised youth for the actions committed when they were part of the armed group, a new categorisation takes place, that forgets about their status as a victim. Even if the judicial system to deal

128

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

with their criminal liability differs from the adult system because it intends -based on principles of restorative justice- to impose sanctions, rather than penalties, with a “protective, educational and restorative purpose” (CC, 2006, Art. 179), following the CRC General Comment 24, it is a system that still holds minors accountable for crimes committed between the ages of 14 and 18, overlooking the decisive context that led to these circumstances. On the other hand, the reestablishment of rights programme offered by the ICBF has limitations on the actual impact it has for transforming children’s lives once they exit the programme. Most of them return to an environment that can be completely different from the one they are used to, being confronted with a reality for which they are equally unprepared, conjoined by the loss of support networks, generating a psychosocial impact, the magnitude of which depends on individual factors such as age, sex, personality, lived experience (ICBF, 2016b). They can also be exposed to a vulnerable context, affected by multiple forms of violence. Many of them are terrorised by the idea of returning to their local communities and families. Sometimes because the bridges with their families have been burned, or simply because as demobilised soldiers they are considered deserters by their armed group, and thus, primary targets of violence (Lozano, 2014, pp. 153–182). These problematics will endure if lack of state presence in the territories most affected by the armed conflict continues, and children and adolescents re-enter a society without opportunities to guarantee them a future. The reflection of an anonymous demobilised child soldier on their situation after passing through the ICBF programme portrays the difficulties ahead: Yes, that is I: a murderer. And as a murderer, I will be killed also. Not necessarily because I will be murdered, but because I will exist as a living dead. (Anonymous in Duque, 2017, p. 27)

7.6 Conclusion This chapter provided a brief overview of some of the most concerning issues that arise when attempting to deal with the situation and status of children disengaged from armed conflict in law and policy. It looked at the case of the Colombian armed conflict in order to shed light to the plural realities and factors involved in a child’s relationship and dynamics with armed groups, and how these relationships are portrayed and reflected as discourses of victimhood and criminality. Social justice requires ensuring that children have their fundamental rights and interests protected, and the international and national legal frameworks impose clear responsibilities to states and other actors in ensuring that former child soldiers have their rights re-established, and their dignity secured. However, strict binary notions on who these children are, what their role in a post-conflict society is, and how these rights and interests ought to be re-established can be thornier than expected. Much work is needed in dealing with and treating the plural relationships of children with armed conflict. It is especially important, as the UNCRC enshrines

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

129

in its article 12, to listen to children themselves, and to include them in decisionmaking mechanisms, in order to ensure that law and policy are aligned with their actual interests and needs, and not with preconceived notions of who they are, and how they should be treated.

References Boyden, J., & de Berry, J. (2010). Introduction. In J. Boyden, & J. de Berry (Eds.), Children and youth on the front line (pp. xi–xxvii). Berghahn Books. Brando, N. (2019). Universalism, embeddedness and domination: An analysis of the convention on the rights of the child. Journal of Global Ethics, 15(3), 270–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/174 49626.2019.1695221 Brando, N. (2020). Children’s abilities, freedom, and the process of capability-formation. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities., 21(3), 249–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829. 2020.1767547 Breen, C. (2007). When is a child not a child? Child soldiers in international law. Human Rights Review, 8, 71–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02881667 Carmona Parra, J. A., Moreno Martín, F., & Tobón Hoyos, J. F. (2012). Child soldiers in Colombia: Five views. Universitas Psychologica, 11(3), 755–768. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id= 64724634006 CNMH (Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica). (2012). Estadísticas del conflicto armado en Colombia. Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica. www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/mic rositios/informeGeneral/estadisticas.html CNMH (Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica). (2017). Una Guerra Sin Edad. Informe Nacional de Reclutamiento y Utilización de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes en el Conflicto Armado Colombiano. Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica. https://www.jep.gov.co/Sala-de-Prensa/Docume nts/una-guerra-sin-edad.pdf#search=edad CNMH (Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica). (2021). Observatorio de Memoria y Conflicto. Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica. http://micrositios.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/obs ervatorio/ CRC (Committee on the Rights of the Child). (2019). General Comment No.24 on children’s rights in the child justice system. UNCRC Comment No CRC/C/GC/24 of September 18, 2019. CV (Comisión de la Verdad). (2021). Reconocimiento de los impactos del conflicto armado en niños, niñas y adolescentes. Commission of Truth of the Colombian Government. https://comisi ondelaverdad.co/actualidad/noticias/reconocimiento-de-los-impactos-del-conflicto-armado-col ombiano-en-ninos-ninas-y-adolescentes Derluyn, I., Vandenhole, W., Parmentier, S., & Mels, C. (2015). Victims and/or perpetrators? Towards an interdisciplinary dialogue on child soldiers. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 15, 28–40. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-015-0068-5 Dixon, L. (2016). The Psychological Trauma of a Multi-Generation War. The Atlantic. December 1, 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/the-psychological-trauma-of-amulti-generation-war/509207/ Drumbl, M., & Tobin, J. (2019). The optional protocol on children and armed conflict. In J. Tobin (Ed.), The UN convention on the rights of the child. A commentary (pp. 1666–1711). Oxford University Press. Drumbl, M. A. (2012). Reimagining child soldiers in international law and policy. Oxford University Press. Duque, C. J. (2017). Les di la mano, tomaron la piel. Fundación Fahrenheit 451/Huella Indeleble.

130

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

El Espectador. (2021). Bombardeo en Chocó en el que murieron cuatro menores “fue legítimo”: Gobierno. El Espectador. October 8, 2021. https://www.elespectador.com/judicial/bombardeoen-choco-en-el-que-murieron-cuatro-menores-fue-legitimo-gobierno/ El Tiempo. (2020). 5.524 niños y niñas han sido desvinculados de grupos armados. El Tiempo. April 24, 2020. https://www.eltiempo.com/politica/proceso-de-paz/mas-de-cino-mil-ninos-hansido-desvinculados-de-grupos-armados-488366 Fabre, C. (2018). Children and war. In A. Gheaus, G. Calder, & J. De Wispelaere (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of the philosophy of childhood and children (pp. 406–415). Routledge. ICBF (Colombian Family Welfare Institute). (2016a). Lineamiento Técnico De Las Modalidades del Programa de Atención Especializada para el Restablecimiento de Derechos a Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes Víctimas de Reclutamiento Ilícito, que se han Desvinculado de Grupos Armados Organizados al Margen de la Ley y Contribución al Proceso de Reparación Integral. ICBF. https://www.icbf.gov.co/sites/default/files/procesos/lm12.p_lineamiento_tecnico_programa_ate ncion_especializada_a_ninos_ninas_y_adolescentes_victimas_de_reclutamiento_ilicito_desvin culados_v1.pdf ICBF (Colombian Family Welfare Institute). (2016b). ABC – Víctimas de conflicto armado – desvinculados. ICBF. https://www.icbf.gov.co/sites/default/files/abc_-_victimas_de_conflicto_ armado_-_desvinculados.pdf JEP (Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz). (2021). Caso 07. Reclutamiento y utilización de niñas y niños en el conflicto armado. Macro-case number 07 of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP. https://www.jep.gov.co/especiales1/macrocasos/ 07.html Ladisch, V. (2013). Child soldiers: Passive victims? Aljazeera. Opinion Piece. November 21, 2013. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/11/21/child-soldiers-passive-victims Lozano, P. (2014). Crecimos en la guerra. Crónicas. Panamericana Editorial. Martín Fernández, I. (2020). Los derechos de los y las menores excombatientes en Colombia: el reto de la reinserción. Estudios de Paz y Conflictos 3, 9–24. https://www.estudiosdepazyconflic tos.com/index.php/eirene/article/view/71 McMahan, J. (2010). An ethical perspective on child soldiers. In S. Gates & S. Reich (Eds.), Child soldiers in the age of fractured states (pp. 27–36). University of Pittsburgh Press. Nabuco Martuscelli, P., & Bandarra, L. (2020). Triply silenced agents: Cognitive structures and girl soldiers in Colombia. Critical Studies on Security, 8(3), 223–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 21624887.2020.1846277 Özerdem, A., & Podder, S. (2011). The long road home: Conceptual debates on recruitment experiences and reintegration outcomes. In A. Özerdem & S. Podder (Eds.), Child soldiers: From recruitment to reintegration (pp. 3–26). Palgrave Macmillan. Rubio, R. (2015). ¿Y por qué tantos colores? Tres casos de reintegración de jóvenes, víctimas de reclutamiento ilícito. OIM. Salamanca Sarmiento, N. (2019). Refiguring childhoods through Colombian former child soldiers’ stories. Doctoral Dissertation. Faculty of Sociology, The University of Edinburgh. Santiago, L. (2007). Nacido para triunfar. Testimonio de un adolescente desvinculado de un grupo armado ilegal. Editorial Universidad de Caldas. Springer, N. (2012). Como Corderos Entre Lobos: Del Uso y Reclutamiento de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes En El Marco Del Conflicto Armado y La Criminalidad En Colombia. CODHES. Thomason, K. K. (2016). Guilt and child soldiers. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 19, 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-015-9595-3 Turkewitz, J., & Villamil, S. (2021). A cinco años del acuerdo de paz, los niños de Colombia siguen atrapados en el conflicto. The New York Times. March 27, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/es/ 2021/03/27/espanol/colombia-acuerdos-paz.html UNICEF. (2007). The Paris principles and guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed groups. UNICEF.

7 Child Soldiers as Victims or as Perpetrators? …

131

UNSC (UN Security Council). (2017). Conclusions on the situation of children and armed conflict in Colombia. Conclusions – Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict S/AC.51/2017/1 of March 7, 2017. UNSC (UN Security Council). (2019). Children and Armed conflict in Colombia. Report of the Secretary-General to the UN Security Council No. S/2019/1017 of December 31, 2019. Utas, M. (2011). Victimcy as social navigation: From the toolbox of Liberian child soldiers. In A. Özerdem, & S. Podder (Eds.), Child soldiers: From recruitment to reintegration (pp. 213–228). Palgrave Macmillan. Wells, K. (2015). Childhood in a global perspective. Polity.

Legal Documents CC (Congress of the Republic of Colombia). (2005). Law 975 of 2005. Por la cual se dictan disposiciones para la reincorporación de miembros de grupos armados organizados al margen de la ley, que contribuyan de manera efectiva a la consecución de la paz nacional y se dictan otras disposiciones para acuerdos humanitarios. http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/bas edoc/ley_0975_2005.html CC (Congress of the Republic of Colombia). (1997). Law 418 of 1997. Por la cual se consagran unos instrumentos para la búsqueda de la convivencia, la eficacia de la justicia y se dictan otras disposiciones. http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/ley_0418_1997.html CC (Congress of the Republic of Colombia). (2006). Law 1098 of 2006. Por la cual se expide el Código de la Infancia y la Adolescencia. http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/ ley_1098_2006.html CC (Congress of the Republic of Colombia). (2011). Law 1448 of 2011. Por la cual se dictan medidas de atención, asistencia y reparación integral a las víctimas del conflicto armado interno y se dictan otras disposiciones. http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/ley_1448_2 011.html CCC (Constitutional Court of Colombia). (2004). Sentence C-172 of 2004. https://www.cortecons titucional.gov.co/relatoria/2004/C-172-04.htm CCC (Constitutional Court of Colombia). (2012). Sentence C-253 A of 2012. https://www.cortec onstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2012/C-253A-12.htm CCC (Constitutional Court of Colombia). (2018). Judgment T-468 of 2018. https://www.cortecons titucional.gov.co/relatoria/2018/T-468-18.htm ILO (International Labour Organisation). (1999). Convention No. 182. Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention. C182, entered into force November 19, 2000. OHPC (Office of the High Peace Commissioner of Colombia). (2016). Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build Stable and Lasting Peace. Signed on November 24, 2016 by representatives of the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP. https://www.portalparalapaz. gov.co/publicaciones/809/texto-del-acuerdo/ UNGA (United Nations General Assembly). (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. UN General Assembly. Resolution 44/25 of November 20, 1989. UNGA. (2000). Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. General Assembly resolution A/RES/54/263 of 25 May 2000.

Nicolás Brando He is a Derby Fellow on childhood and children’s rights working at the School of Law and Social Justice at the University of Liverpool. He does research in Political and Moral Philosophy, working particularly on theories of justice, children’s rights, and the capabilities approach. Prior to his current post, he was a Newton International Fellow at Queen’s University

132

N. Brando and A. Echeverry

Belfast. He has published widely on the capabilities approach, theories of childhood and children’s rights, education theory, and global justice. Alexandra Echeverry She is a lawyer from the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, with professional experience related to the guarantee and protection of human rights of marginalized populations, specifically children and women’s rights. Currently works at the Differential Approach division at the Secretary for Women’s Affairs in Bogotá, Colombia, supporting the local government in the inclusion of women in all their diversity through affirmative actions. Prior to her current post, she was a lawyer for the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), the agency in charge of the promotion and guarantee of children’s rights in Colombia.

Chapter 8

Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions in Mumbai’s Hinterland and Its Slums: What Means ‘to Become Someone’ in Early XXI Century in Maharastra? Gonzalo de Castro Lamela and Luis Bueno Conde Abstract India is usually seen as a universe of social divisions which walls are practically insurmountable: casts, economic classes, religions, ethnics. The sense of ‘belonging’ to primary groups becomes a traditional driver of the perceptions of adolescents, but global culture trends shape their aspirations from which they construct their expectations. Research about adolescent expectations matters because it connects with recent evidence from interdisciplinary and longitudinal studies about the crucial role that expectations play in adolescents’ achievements at the beginning of their early adult life. Expectations also connect with the ability to orient oneself towards the future, or what Arjun Appadurai calls “the capacity to aspire”, a navigational capacity like a map, through which people can explore their future, available options and opportunities. Furthermore, expectations are interesting because they inform about adolescents’ and young people’s current wellbeing. However, the role of cultural and contextual factors in the construction of expectations during adolescence has received little attention. EDUCO Foundation research project, that is the base of this chapter, explores the influence of contextual and cultural factors in that construction, in two districts of the state of Maharastra, India: a rural area—Shilonda, Palghar District- and an urban slum—Lallubhai Compound- in Mumbai. The use of a wellbeing approach enabled us to explore beyond the lack of income or material resources and to assess the influence of other factors in their wellbeing, and specially in their expectations, such as the quality of close and social relationships and the interconnectivity across different ‘scales’ from the local to the global. The approach allows us to assess factors like beliefs, social classes and casts system, violence, and the existence of adultcentric and androcentric patterns that determine recognition and opportunities that are the foundation of the construction of expectations and G. de Castro Lamela (B) · L. Bueno Conde Social Research Area, Fundación Educación Y Cooperación (EDUCO Foundation-Spain), Barcelona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] L. Bueno Conde e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_8

133

134

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

requirements for more social justice. From this relies on the widening or the erosion of the horizons of children and adolescents in the rural and urban world under the lights of Mumbai, the city of dreams. Keywords Wellbeing · Adolescence · Expectations · Child Rights · Child poverty · Social Justice. (SDGs 1 - 3 - 5 - 10 and 11)

8.1 Expectations, Wellbeing and Well-Becoming: A Theoretical Framework Theories and practices on Development Studies have traditionally shown an interest in the assessment of living conditions, survival and needs of the people. This has guided research and action related to certain causes and consequences of poverty, social exclusion and inequalities, and their effects on the wellbeing of children and adolescents. In the last decades, approaches to wellbeing have shown evidence that development understood as good life, quality of life, life satisfaction and the realization of rights involve aspects beyond the lack of income or material resources, adding new useful information to the evaluation of wellbeing (Diener, 1984, p. 553; Casas, 2010, p. 36; Tonon et al., 2017a, p. 7). Following EDUCO Foundation’s research on “Wellbeing of Children and Adolescents”, this chapter focuses on a still ongoing research project that explores the impact of cultural and contextual factors, both local and global, on the construction of expectations in the adolescence in two districts of the state of Maharastra (India): a rural area—Shilonda, Palghar District—and an urban slum—Lallubhai Compound—in Mumbai. The aspirations, perceptions and evaluations about their lives, context and future, provide necessary and useful information to assess current wellbeing and wellbecoming (Casas, 2010, p. 39). Empirical evidence exists on the relationship between educational and occupational expectations of adolescents and their achievements in adult life. Positive expectations are also related to better social and emotional development, higher self-esteem and the ability to set long-term goals (Sulimani-Aidan, 2015, p. 193). We have also considered that there is evidence from new poverty studies such as those investigating ‘scarcity traps’ to be considered when studying the perceptions and aspirations of people living in conditions of severe material deprivation. “Scarcity captures the mind”, underline Mullainathan and Shafir (2013, p. 18). Scarcity is more than just the displeasure of having too little. It changes the way you think. It imposes itself on the mind. So, we see that scarcity is as much about psychology as it is about material reality, because people have less mental space to attend to the rest of our daily lives, to make plans and good decisions towards them. This is not just a metaphor, say the authors, but a deficit or burden on mental capacity or mental bandwidth. This is important for this research because it requires considering the possible presence of “adaptative preferences” (Sen, 1984, quoted by Otano, 2015, p. 102), which means

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

135

considering the existence of unconscious mechanisms that facilitate the adaptation of people and their expectations to the circumstances in which they live, being able to feel “happy” or “fulfilled” even in miserable living conditions.

8.1.1 Why Expectations Matter? From Personal to Contextual Factors Research on adolescents’ expectations matter in relation to improvement of their wellbeing for two reasons. The first, is the Pygmalion effect, associated with the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The second is because of a triangulation effect, refers to the possibility offered to inform about their wellbeing and factors in a certain context and time. The first reason for interest in adolescent’s expectations, associated with the Pygmalion effect, arises from evidence of the crucial role that expectations play in driving adolescents’ achievement in early adulthood (Sulimani-Aidan, 2015). The Pygmalion effect is associated with the influence of one person’s belief on another’s potential. Thus, we can find literature that reveals that adolescents’ educational expectations predict their educational outcomes, or as predictors of occupational attainment (Sulimani-Aidan, 2015, p. 193). Following Sulimani’s work, we can trace studies which identify having positive expectations for the future as an important protective factor linked to positive psychosocial outcomes, resilience and lower rates of risky behaviors, particularly among low-income youth. In this way, Dubow et al. (2001, p. 5) found that having a higher level of positive expectations for the future was related to exhibiting fewer problems of behavior, being resilient to negative peer influence, being more involved in school and having better social support. Studies also find that positive beliefs about the future are related to long-term goal setting, better social and emotional adjustment in school and higher self-esteem (Catalano et al., 2004, p. 107; Sulimani-Aidan, 2015, p. 194). All the above reveals the fluid interaction between expectations and the formation and modulation of certain self-perceptions. We can include here studies of expectations that reveal the capacity to orient towards the future (Sánchez-Sandoval and Verdugo, 2016, p. 545), or what Appadurai (2004, p. 65) calls “the capacity to aspire”. In Appadurai’s words (2004, p. 69), the capacity to aspire is a “navigational capacity”, similar to a map, through which people can explore their future—options and opportunities—and their aspirational horizon. He describes as privileged people those who are able to achieve realistic paths to their horizons. But in contrast, he warns that “when these pathways exist for the poor, they are likely to be more rigid, less flexible, and strategically valuable, not because of a cognitive deficit on the part of the poor, but because the capacity to aspire, like any complex cultural capacity, thrives and survives on practice, repetition, exploration, conjecture and refutation” (Appadurai, 2004, p. 69).

136

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

A second reason why the adolescents’ expectations study might be of interest for wellbeing approaches is by a triangulation effect that argues, following White (Bueno, 2017, p. 11), that “the interesting things you find out about wellbeing tend to be when you are asking about something else”. The triangulation was defined by Denzin (1978, quoted by Tonon et al., 2017a, p. 10), as the combination of methodologies for the study of the same phenomena or process, and it was useful here to understand “the social reality (of children and adolescents) that is constructed through social processes that develop at the same time in a material particular area and other subjective and symbolic” (Tonon et al., 2017a, p. 9). The utility of triangulation was revealed as a useful method to find out their wellbeing (McGregor, 2007, p. 26) that influence expectations and community wellbeing aspects that help us to understand the subjectivity of children and adolescents, expressed through their views, values, beliefs, customs, and power relations in which they live. It also allows us to learn about what community wellbeing means (Sung and Phillips, 2018, p. 66; Tonon et al., 2017a, p. 9) or what means for them ‘to be well together’ (Atkinson et al., 2019, p. 1903), or how they perceive the adult-centric point of view in their living space (Casas, 2010, p. 44). This has profound implication not only for research ends, but also to inform development and policy actions towards improvements of wellbeing and child rights. Furthermore, the greater interconnectivity across different ‘scales’ from local to global that is captured under the general label of ‘globalization’, makes clear that our understandings and experiences of ‘local’ and ‘community’ may no longer be easily fixed in territorial terms (Atkinson et al., 2019, p. 1905). Nevertheless, Tonon et al. (2017b, p. 523) and Sung and Phillips (2018, p. 66) point out features from an inter-subjective dimension of community wellbeing, that go beyond the nowadays scientific community agreements related to the objective and subjective outlook on people’s lives. Intersubjective wellbeing aspects are understood (Sung and Phillips, 2018, p. 67), as shared knowledge and understanding “focus on the evaluation of community elements rather that residents’ subjective satisfaction”. It implies to ask residents to think about how satisfied all other residents of a community are with various community items and acknowledges differences between residents’ subjective satisfaction and their intersubjective evaluation. Finally, we can analyze what children and adolescents consider important for being and doing what they have reason to value, because we are considering that the enhancement of human freedom is both the main goal of development and its primary means. The goal of development is related to the valuation of the real freedoms enjoyed by individuals, and individual capabilities depend on economic, social, and political systems (Sen, 2000, p. 74). Amartya Sen’s proposal of development as freedom supports this study of adolescents’ expectations as it considers a conception of freedom that involves both the processes that make freedom of action and decision possible, as well as the real opportunities that individuals have given their personal and social circumstances (Tonon, 2020, p. 130).

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

137

8.1.2 Expectations: From Contextual to Cultural Factors The concept of future expectations refers to the extent to which people expect an event to occur, influencing their planning and goal setting, and thus guiding behavior and development (Sánchez-Sandoval and Verdugo, 2016; Verdugo et al., 2008). Extensive literature has explored the relationship between expectations in adolescence and the world of self-perceptions on individual characteristics such as selfconfidence, a factor associated with the need to be recognized, especially in close and intimate relationships. Self-confidence opens an understanding of one’s own needs and allows the person to imagine a more positive future. Other concepts have also been considered, such as self-respect, which refers to the need for people to be recognized as equal subjects of rights, to be able to understand ourselves as deserving of equal treatment, or self-esteem, to be able to perceive our talents and ability to contribute to life in society (Deneulin, 2014, p. 95). We can also highlight the importance of self-efficacy, called self-control in expectations (EDUCO, 2020). Expectations are a basis for goal setting, exploration, planning and decisionmaking. They are said to be essential for living prosperously through adolescence and are conceived as a positive pathway to adulthood. Precisely in adolescence, great importance is attributed to the future, regarding the fulfilment of one’s aspirations and projects. The perspective of time can influence the actions and decisions of individuals and, especially during adolescence, it can be a prerequisite to start building one’s own identity. There is literature in the interdisciplinary research field about the connection of building expectations with what we can call personal factors. However, the role of contextual and cultural factors in the construction of expectations has received little attention (Verdugo et al., 2018, p. 4). Other research project from EDUCO Foundation, about expectations of adolescents in Santa Cruz de Quiché, Guatemala (De Castro et al., 2020), shows evidence of the influence generated by the scarcity or non-existence, of public and private structures of opportunities related to adolescents’ aspirations. In addition, it finds the weight of role models not only in their close and social relations, especially the emigrated ones, but also in the new forms of virtual and digital interaction, communication and relationship through the internet and social media, that have influence in the decision-making process of expectations. In this way, certain processes of ‘intergenerational transmission in the formation of expectations’ highlight the presence of relational and cultural factors that we can add to what is known as the intergenerational transmission of poverty, when this is the case. As Weisner (2014) explained in his studies of the influence of culture and context in child wellbeing, it is a fact that there are many demographic variables that also influence wellbeing in addition to cultural communities, including religious affiliation, ethnicity, race, class, age, and gender. Cultural evidence adds to such social categories by asking what unifies them and what are the institutional influences on wellbeing. Although there is ample proof of the value of a cultural-contextual perspective to wellbeing studies, Weisner (2014, p. 88) admits that are no longer easy to identify stable cultural groups with isolated, clearly shared models and patterns of beliefs.

138

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

Up to this point, we realize that wellbeing is now considered to be a complex and broad concept, which should be analyzed from a multicultural and multidisciplinary approach, and which should include the opportunities provided by both the community and society to achieve the goals that each person sets for themselves. “Wellbeing is necessarily linked to culture and society and the realization of personal goals will necessarily be connected to the values of each cultural context” said Tonon et al. (2017c, p. 167). We can conceive culture as the social organization of meaning, as patterns historically transmitted and embedded in symbolic forms, by virtue of which individuals communicate with each other and share their experiences, conceptions, and beliefs (Gimenez, 2005, p. 68). Tonon et al. explains (2017a, p. 12) that research with children, which take account of the sociopolitical, cultural, and psychological dimensions, allow us to understand “not only their knowledge and subjective experiences, but also to the whole complex of their culture, family life, beliefs, and the social collective imaginary”. In this chapter we will study these considerations as well as the influence of a global culture trends that coexist with layers of local culture. Amartya Sen (2000, p. 291) points to the weight of Western world in contemporary world culture and refers to the threat this may pose to native cultures in the globalization, which he describes as inevitable. But at the same time, he argues that “the image of regional independence in cultural matters is very misleading and it is difficult to defend the value of keeping traditions pure and untainted. Sometimes outside intellectual influences may be more indirect and come from many sources” (p. 294). According to Sen, there are more interrelationships and more cross-cultural influences in the world than those acknowledged by the ones who are alarmed by the possibility of a cultural subversion. “Those who fear for cultures often have a very fragile view of each culture and tend to underestimate our ability to learn from other places without being overwhelmed by that experience” (p. 294).

8.1.3 Expectations and Their Circumstances: The Objectives of the Research The aim of this chapter is to explore children and adolescents’ perceptions of their wellbeing and identify cultural and contextual factors, both local and global, that influence not just their perceptions but also their aspirations and their expectations. EDUCO Foundation’s work on social research projects from 2018, such as the one at the basis of this chapter, enables the generation of knowledge for decision-making in the social and political action areas, which in this case has two general objectives. The first one is to find out what adolescents think, feel and value about their lives, their environment, and their future, that means their perceptions, aspirations, and evaluations. The local setting in which the research project is carried out corresponds to geographical and cultural areas where EDUCO and its partners promote Development and Social Action activities. In this case, we focus on two specific

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

139

districts of the state of Maharastra: a rural area—Palghar District—and an urban slum in Mumbai City. Secondly, this research seeks to explore the influence of global and local cultural and social processes that influence perceptions and expectations of children and adolescents, as well as the importance of certain driving or conditioning factors. In summary, we can point out the following specific objectives of the project: . To explore and identify individual and especially relational factors—understood as cultural and social factors of the local and global context—that influence the construction of expectations of adolescents and young people in the two local specific areas. . To explore the interaction between expectations and children and adolescent’s wellbeing in that context and time.

8.2 A Methodological Note This research project was implemented in two phases between 2018 and 2020 in the two districts of Maharastra State, applying qualitative methods. The purpose of Phase I was to document how children understand wellbeing, to explore the factors that influence it in their contexts, and to assess the use of arts & play techniques for data collection. Previously EDUCO India conducted a Child Right Situation Analysis (EDUCO India, 2016) that produced valuable findings to inform the research questions. Participants in Phase I was 179 children and adolescents aged 9–14 years from 6 schools in rural villages of Palghar district (103) and Lallubhai urban settlement in Mumbai city (76). Of these, 98 were girls and 81 were boys. This fieldwork took place in four moments between April-July 2018 in both contexts, with a long interaction over four days with each group. It counted with additional activities like homework and warm-ups. All participating (Phase I and II) in the rural area were beneficiaries of projects of EDUCO’s long run partner Matru Schaya Social Welfare Society. The urban participants were from EDUCO’s partner projects, Khula Aasman Trust, in Lallubhai Compound. The Phase II have aimed to explore not only the perceptions of adolescents about their wellbeing and realization of child rights, but also the processes that influence the construction of expectations in that given context and time. Participants was adolescents and young people ageing 14–22 years old. Nonetheless, the scope was reduced to just 10 young interviewees (5 rural and 5 urbans; 5 boys and 5 girls), in collective and individual interviews. There were also interviewed key actors in the lives of the children (school director and teachers, childcare centre (anganwadi) teachers, NGO specialists and workers, village leader and parents. The second phase also included direct observation of events, daily life, and public space, and took place between 2nd and 18th of July 2019.

140

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

The research was conducted setting children and adolescents’ as protagonists and thus acknowledging their capacity to speak about what concerns to their lives. As Tonon et al. defends (2017a, p. 2) “childhood, as a social category, has been traditionally defined in a disqualifying manner, as everything that children could not yet be or do, or by comparing their current roles with those they might perform in the future, when they grew up, disregarding what they could do in the present time”. She adds that it was a widespread practice in the social sciences to consider children as not competent enough to provide information about their personal and social experiences. The analysis of the information gathered during the fieldwork was complemented with a review and analysis of primary and secondary data, supported by MAXQDA software. As for the tools and techniques for data collection, individual questionnaires, structured interviews, and semi-structured interviews were used. In the case of the fieldwork with adolescents and young people, the participants in the group interviews filled in an individual questionnaire before the group work. This was used to conduct the group dynamics and share reflections about their life and environment. Finally, individual interviews were conducted with some of the participants. One of the four institutional principles that guides the mission of EDUCO is Participation. This states that all our actions guarantee and promote the right to participation of children and adolescents, and those that accompany them. In this regard, we have adopted ten standards that aim to maximize children’s participation in our projects while providing safe conditions for them to freely express their views. These are naturally aligned with the international standards framed under the UNCRC. Children and adolescents who participated in interviews and focus group were duly briefed on the objectives prior to the start of the sessions. Their written consent was also sought for the use of their image and names in all the documentation (video, audio, and reports).

8.3 The Two Geographical Settings 8.3.1 Urban: Slum Community Lallubhai Compound, Mumbai Lallubhai Compound in Mankhurd is a rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) colony situated in Mumbai’s M-East ward. Perched on the city’s heavily polluted eastern waterfront, M-Ward is the most underprivileged municipal ward in Mumbai. Since the 1970s, when “slums” emerged in spaces of neglect and self-created housing, M-Ward has been receiving waves of migrants from the rural hinterland and slum dwellers evicted by development across the city. At first tolerated by authorities, since the 2000s, it has been targeted for state resettlement schemes in partnership with private sector developers. In the political economy of the city, the labour of

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

141

those staying in slums was required but the spaces they occupied were not protected, located on tracts of unhabitable -often marshy- land. There are several studies that link slums to the housing question and the injustice in the allocation of space (IDRC, 2016). Violence is writ into the DNA of a slum community. Its process of settlement, everyday life represents a struggle of marginalized people to stake a claim to the city against the grain of law, land ownership and the state logic of ‘being’ and citizenship. Further, the people who ‘populate’ the slum are those who have been excluded from mainframe Indian society- scheduled castes, backward castes, and Muslims. This has meant that the slum fuses multiple realms and logics of exclusion (IDRC, 2016). Lallubhai Compound is a cluster of buildings built around 2005 under the Slum Rehabilitation Act to force former residents of another slum, which was cleared for a development project in the city, to resettle. The colony has a total of 65 buildings— with 7 and 5 floors-, that are home to approximately 70,000 tenants and 36,000 residents. Most of the residents of Lallubhai Compound are from a lower socioeconomic background and unless both the parents earn, it is not possible to take care of the basic needs of the household. This keeps the parents outside the house for long hours. The area scores low on four key parameters of development: infrastructure, education, water and sanitation, and health (Khula Aasman & EDUCO India, 2019). Drug abuse, sexual harassment, high drop-out rates among children and other safety concerns are a regular feature. The residents were too caught up in the struggle for day-to-day sustenance to address these issues for the long term (Latagajanan, 2019). Lullabhai Compound has been ignored by the government for the last decade and daily life here is a struggle for food, water, education, and cleanliness. There are no proper sanitation/and drainage lines there. The narrow alleys between the tall buildings—often barely three metres apart—causes insufficient ventilation in the houses. People constantly complain of perennial leakage from various pipes in the area making the entire complex a breeding ground for mosquitoes year-round. The incidence of water-borne diseases is high. The residents often congregate on the road divided in groups because there are no safe public spaces for them to meet in. Many reminish their life in the chawl before they were forced to shift to Lullabhai Compound: “there the women would meet in the evenings to chat, but here in Lallubhai compound, there is no sense of community. We feel like prisoners here”. This is how it has tended to be known as a “vertical slum” (Jadhav & Chavah, 2015).

8.3.2 Rural: Tribal Community Shilonda, Palghar Shilonda is a village in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, in the Dahanu Taluka. According to the 2011 census of India, Shilonda has 424 households. The effective literacy rate—the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and belowis 27.94%. Shilonda is largely populated by the Warli—which is recognized as one of the Scheduled Tribes (ST) acknowledged by the Constitution of India- Kokna and

142

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

Katkary tribes. However, key informants affirm that these don’t cultivate relationships between them. There is stigma and discrimination against the minority group of the Kutkary people. From Fraser’s (2008, p. 88) social justice approach, we can see that this low-status ethnic group is explicitly singled out by dominant cultural value patterns as different and less valuable. This pattern of social injustice is defined by relations of recognition, distinguished by the lesser respect, stigma, and prestige they enjoy in relation to other social groups. Thus, the status of children and adolescents are an ongoing reproduction of this pathway. Seasonal migration has long been a practice for improving livelihoods in rural areas, with some male members of the family leaving the village for part of the year to look for paid work. In the last few decades, however, there has been growing incidence of ‘distress seasonal migration’. This occurs due to the lack of livelihood options after the harvest of the monsoon crop (kharif) in most rain fed parts of the country, which gives rise to indebtedness and food insecurity. This forces the entire family to leave home in search of work to survive. Children, who have no choice but to accompany their parents, drop out of schools and are forced into hard labor. There are also a few pull factors for distress migration, including the high seasonal demand for manual labor in agriculturally rich areas and labor-intensive industries. It is noting that while international migrations are at the global agenda concerns, there is a huge share of short distance and internal migration, temporary and seasonal from rural to urban that do not have the same media resonance and profound effect in child rights gaps, opportunities, and child wellbeing. These movements make a way of living at the end, especially from poor and marginalized communities that cannot live only in their current farm-based condition. They leave their children behind or take them with them, looking in ‘Mumbai the city of dreams’ ways of living. But the reality in which they arrive usually looks very different to what they imagined.

8.4 Adolescents’ Expectations in Rural and Urban Maharashtra: Findings and Reflections of an Explorative Research 8.4.1 From Subjects of Rights to Subjects of Their Own Lives Children are right holders of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) and subject of rights that duty bearers—States—must accomplish. The UNCRC is part of internal legal system of countries when they sign, and they must create or harmonize their internal legislation toward these ends. Up to this point, we agree that States must enact laws and to proceed to the effective realization of those rights. Today’s world is the inheritor of social and political movements and organizations that have demanded and promoted the enshrinement of rights at the local and global level. Despite the need to continue supporting these efforts, the bigger challenge

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

143

nowadays remains precisely in the effective exercise of those rights. Data about child poverty and social exclusion, maltreatment or child labour reveals the idea of millions of children left behind (EDUCO India, 2017). This shows us the implementation gap of the UNCRC. The distance from home to school ranked amongst the highest reasons of out of school children. This, despite the stipulation in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, for elementary schools to be made available within 1 – 3 kms of habitation. Girls were disproportionately affected by this lack of access. Early marriage, household responsibilities, sibling care and violence against women and girls rated high as barriers to girl child education in urban and rural contexts. (EDUCO India, 2016, p. 12) Parents shared they did not send their daughters to school because they feared that such mobility could ‘expose’ girls and thus needed to impose control for fear of losing face and social ostracism if something ‘untoward happened to the girl. (EDUCO India, 2016, p. 66)

Direct observation and testimonies collected in the fieldwork stage provided solid evidence of gender inequality in the life of adolescents. We will highlight later how this limits their aspirations and opportunities to be and do what they have reason to value. I have no more chance to study and learn at home. And my family needs my brother to assist to school. (…) What would I do with little money in my pocket? I would go to school. (Adolescent girl, Lallubhai Compound)

White (2018, p. 3) points out that wellbeing approaches are motivated in the belief of recovering people as subjects of their own lives, rather than objects of policy. Therefore, a wellbeing approach appears as a holistic way to activate the voices of the people (children and adolescents, in our case) to reflect, express and share what they have reasons to value to influence public policies. This shows the connection between wellbeing and the theoretical basis of Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom (2000) towards more just societies (Deneulin, 2014). But when we stand up to listen the points of view from children and adolescents consulted in Maharashtra, we realize that the meaning of ‘subjects of their own life’ has a strong connection with a profound sense of close relationships. What is freedom for me? To be free is to be able to do things for the parents. A sense of responsibility. And I’m happy if my parents are happy. (Adolescent girl, Lallubhai Compound)

Which qualities would you like to be valued by others when you turn 21 years old?: To become a helpful person, to be respected by others. (Adolescent boy, Shilonda) Feel respected by people, get blessings. (Adolescent girl, Shilonda) I love to spend time with my family, share what happened to us during the day. Discuss what should be the meal, contribute to cooking or cleaning. Doing activities together. (Adolescent girl, Lallubhai Compound)

These visions from the adolescents connect their personal wellbeing and expectations with the sense of responsibility to contribute to the wellbeing of both the close relationships and the community. This appears as a matter of recognition, which

144

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

holds that one becomes an individual subject only by virtue of recognising and being recognised by another subject, and which implies that social relations are prior to individuals and inter-subjectivity is prior to subjectivity (Fraser, 2008, p. 85). This rewards them into higher self-esteem as it increases their feeling to be respected and recognized by the wider society. As we saw in 10.1, borrowing Honneth and Pereira, Deneulin (2014, p. 95) argues that there are three domains in which people need to be recognised by others so they may become agents. The first one is the domain of intimate and close relationships where people acquire self-trust, as they need to be recognised for who they are and understand their own needs. A second domain looks at legal relationships where people acquire self-respect, as they need to be recognised as equal subjects of rights. The third is social relationships where people acquire self-esteem, as they feel recognised for their achievements, talents and contribution to the life of society. When this intimate, legal, and social relationships are not functioning well, people lose the conditions for being an agent. Pereira (2013, p. 65) concludes that it is impossible for people to engage in public reasoning processes, argue a position on the ground of reasons, make claims or disagree with others, without these relations to oneself of self-trust, self-esteem and self-respect which only be acquired through interactions with others. We consider those problems for being agents, but also the presence of patterns of social injustice in two forms. One, in relation to the presence of traits of an adultcentric perspective, which reveals the social construction that adults conceive and perpetuate about childhood, considering these to be in a maturation process called vital moratorium (Gaitán, 2010, p. 13). Second, we find androcentric patterns in specific forms of status of subordination that determine a misrecognition also by gender (Fraser, 2008, p. 92). Moves from subjects of rights to subjects of their own lives implies a focus on the weight of those patterns, and on the components or determinants of wellbeing. It is worth noting that this approach implies the realization of Child Rights, but it goes beyond that. There aren’t any references in the United Nations Child Rights Convention (UNCRC) to love and friendship, two central components of wellbeing emphasized by Diener (1984, p. 557), but both sustain the development of the capacity to aspire. Bradshaw et al. (2007, p. 135) consider a definition of child wellbeing “as the realization of children’s rights and the fulfilment of the opportunity for every child to be all she or he can be in the light of a child’s abilities, potential and skills”.

8.4.2 Aspirations from the Standpoint of a Relational Wellbeing Approach Research on the subjective wellbeing of children has yielded, in its short history, unexpected results on what younger generations think and value, like that the satisfaction with interpersonal relationships is the area that they weigh most heavily when

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

145

evaluating their overall life satisfaction (Casas, 2010, p. 38). The study of subjective wellbeing and human relationship has shown the transformative power and the critical role that these relationships play in enhancing wellbeing (Diener, 1984, p. 556). The relational sphere, that covers close and social relations, determines the perceptions, expectations, and evaluations, which are the basis of subjective wellbeing (Casas, 2015, p. 30). It implies their life satisfaction as well as their capacity to be agents of their own development. This is corroborated by current research on child wellbeing that underline that wellbeing originates in the quality of our relationships, or even in a more evocative way: “wellbeing is not something that belongs to individuals, but rather is something that occurs in relationship to others” said White (2009, p. 11). The author (2018, p. 2) suggests that we need to move away from an emphasis on subjective or psychological wellbeing at the individual level to relational wellbeing, an approach that sees wellbeing as grounded in relationships. But if we shift from viewing people as objects to seeing them as subjects, this raises the question: what kind of subject? My aspiration is to become a good human being, help others and uplift poverty. (Adolescent boy, Lallubhai Compound) Parents expect me to be a good girl, be obedient. They trust me. (…) My aspiration is to become a social worker to help others. (Adolescent girl in Lallubhai) I want to be honest and truthful to others. (Adolescent girl, Shilonda)

White (2018, p. 2) remarks that the dominant approaches see people as psychological subjects, prioritising what people think or feel in accounts of the self. But her research in southern Africa and Asia pointed out that we should regard people as “moral subjects”. This doesn’t mean that people always get things right, but trying to get things right, and being seen to do so, matters. “Responsibility to and for others, was above all a moral concept. The selves which people presented through their narratives, were above all moral selves” (White, 2018, p. 14). This morality of the individual towards the collective wellbeing was deeply internalised by the adolescents who participated in this research.

8.4.3 What Kind of Subject? Three Ethics and the Gravity of the Cultural Globalization Moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt (2019, p. 150) points out that one cannot study the mind while ignoring culture, because the mind only functions once a particular culture has filled it. And you cannot study culture, he adds, while ignoring psychology, because social practices and institutions, such as initiation rites, witchcraft and religion are, to some extent, shaped by concepts and desires deeply rooted in the human mind. Taking that into account, it is of interest to consider the theory of morality developed by Richard Shweder (1990), from his research in the state of Orissa, India. As

146

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

Haidt explains (2019, p. 152), Shweder defined three main groups of moral themes which he called the ethics of autonomy, of the community and of the divinity. The ethics of autonomy is based on the idea that people are first and foremost autonomous individuals with wants, needs and preferences. People, then, should be free to satisfy them and in this way, societies develop moral concepts such as rights, freedom and justice, which allow people to coexist peacefully without interfering too much in the projects of others. This is the dominant ethic in individualistic societies. Most adolescents don’t want to work; they prefer reward or instant gratification. They live in a consumerism culture. There is a loss of values due to the media impact. (Teacher at Shivam Vidyamandir school, Lallubhai compound)

Material resources as money, clothes, bicycles, food, basic needs for health and care had a prominent category in the set of priorities of children and adolescents in both Maharashtra contexts. They talked about covering basic needs and services as far as water and electricity, for their families and for their communities. Also, there was some amount of focus on ‘bigger’ and better’ related to homes, schools and public amenities. Lallubhai’s boy definition of wealth as the ability to solve problems indicates us how the material capacity is a central condition to enjoy a good life, which actually meets with other Shilonda boy’s definition of happiness as a life without tensions. A common theme that surfaced through the sharing of the children was their altruistic nature, expressing that they would like to give clothes and food to people who don’t have any, create easy access to schools with quality education for all, plant trees or build playgrounds in their community for all kids. This highlights the notion that children value moving ahead as a community as well. Become a good human being and help others. A person with good thoughts and ideas. (Adolescent boy, Lallubhai, Compound) Educate those people who are illiterate and help those who are in need. When you help others, it gives you a sense of wellbeing. (Adolescent girl Shilonda)

This brings us to the second ethic. As soon as you move away from Western society, says Haidt (2019, p. 152), you hear other people speaking in two additional moral languages. The ethic of community sustains that people are first and foremost members of larger entities such as families, teams, armies, companies, tribes and nations. These larger entities are more than the sum of the people who compose them. This implies that they are real, important, and must be protected. Individuals have an obligation to play their assigned roles in these entities. Many societies, therefore, develop moral concepts such as duty, hierarchy, respect, reputation, and patriotism. We keep many social customs in the area. The three ethnic groups (Warli, Kokna, and Kotkary) don’t cultivate relationships between them; no marriage contracts between them. If boys and girls go beyond the set norms and rules, they will be outcasted of the society. (Community leader, Shilonda)

It was noted that most of the adolescents valued positive responses and praise from other members of the family and the community. Many of them reported valuing

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

147

recognition like people greeting them on the road, acknowledging them for a job well done. I need good people around me, good friends who can create a very positive environment, people who can appreciate the work I do. (adolescent boy, Lallubhai Compound)

It was also highlighted experiences of adolescents facing stigma and humiliation, that in fact reflect a relational impact of child poverty in their wellbeing (Camfield, 2010, p. 2; De Castro, 2017, p. 2). This explains that what concerns children is not only the lack of resources, per se, but rather their exclusion from activities that other children appear to take for granted and the embarrassment and shame at not being able to participate on equal terms with others. These are processes that involve humiliation, shame, self-exclusion, stigmatization and low self-esteem, which lead to gradual narrowing of social and economic horizons and, ultimately, lower life expectations. These subtle badges of poverty expressed by children reflect the reality and perception of separation from their peers. Adolescents of Lallubhai face challenges whenever they go out of the compound. There is strong stigma outside against Lallubhai, which is seen as a place of fights and crime. (Librarian at “Resettlement and Rehabilitation Center”, Lallubhai compound)

This would be circumscribed by Fraser’s (2008, p. 87) interpretation of cultural injustices reflected in the lack of respect through defamation and belittling routinely in stereotypical public representations or everyday interactions. The most worrying aspect is that this is not just a social prejudice but also institutional. Law perceives the ‘slum’ to be a site of ‘loss of morality’ and hence ‘incidence of crime’. Its settlement is seen as ‘encroachment’ and thus, all further actions are seen as illegal (IDRC, 2016, p. 6). There are cases also of 14–15-year-old boys not telling that they live in a slum. For shame. He is not inviting friends to his house, though he was top in the class. Nevertheless, cast division is more subtle than before. (Specialist in Arts & Play technics, Sacred Lotus Academy)

This sentiment of shame among adolescents is a reflect of the powerful presence of social divisions in India. It seems that those in the higher social position and those at the lower strata just accept it as a natural state. It is still common to see people asking to what caste or religion you belong to. Even educated persons are asking that. This is deeply rooted in India; automatically the parents feed these views into the minds of their children, especially to girls. (Director at Matru Schaya Social Welfare Society, MSSWS, Shilonda) In this community, people are very curious and inquisitive about what cast you belong to or what religion you follow. This flows down from the adults to the children and adolescents. (Teacher, Lallubhai Compound)

The third ethics of divinity is based on the idea that people are first and foremost temporary vessels within which a divine soul has been implanted. People are not just animals with an ‘extra’ conscience. They are children of God and must act accordingly. “In the Indian context, you have to be satisfied with what you have, accepting whatever is in my faith”. (Head of Khula Aasman, local NGO in Mumbai).

148

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

Thus, many societies develop moral concepts such as holiness and sin, purity and filth, elevation and degradation. Haidt (2019, p. 156) points out that in India “I began to see a moral world in which families, not individuals, are the basic unit of society and the members of each extended family (even servants) are intensely interdependent. In this world, equality and personal autonomy were not sacred values. Honouring elders, gods and guests, protecting subordinates and fulfilling the duties of each role were”. Which qualities would you like to be valued by others when you turn 21 years old? A person who respects elders and takes care of parents. (Adolescent boy, Lallubhai Compound)

In this sense, it was found a loss of spirituality amid the populations in both contexts. Even though people declared there is a loss of faith, it is suggestive that children and adolescents participate in the religious activities. It seems as if they value rituals and ceremonies as means for cultivating and maintaining social relationships instead of just spaces for spiritual practice and worship. People practice worships and celebrate festivals, but they aren’t much spiritual. (Director at Matru Schaya Social Welfare Soc. (MSSWS), Shilonda) The society follows the religious customs but isn’t really spiritual. (Teacher at Shivam Vidyamandir school, Lallubhai Compound) Customs and beliefs don’t play an important role in the current lives of the adolescents. (Teacher at Shivam Vidyamandir school, Lallubhai compound)

On the other hand, it was acknowledged that ancestral traditions still remained followed specially among the tribal groups in the rural area. Populations are very superstitious. They attribute sickness and death to supernatural and out-of-their control factors. There is then a fear for black magic, receive bad spells as revenge from someone. (Community leader and participant in projects of MSSWS, Shilonda)

Certain studies point out that nowadays we can understand that societies are western or westernized, but this could be a broad brush to paint all as the current cultural globalization without nuances. It is more suggestive to reveal the emergence, the decline or the perpetuation of traits of the three ethics in a given local space.

8.4.4 The Adolescent Stages and the Gender Gap of Aspirations Aspirations is a basis to the construction of expectations, but we need to assess the structure of opportunities to complete an insight. The wellbeing studies, as we saw in the first part, showed its connections with improvements not only with wellbeing but also with well-becoming in terms of connection related to early adult achievements. But it is interesting now to explore what means to be an adolescent in this context and time.

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

149

The childhood here lasts until 13-14 years old, but before that age the children think they are adults. They are working outside for some days. The adolescent period is fast. Kids fall in love quickly, have relationships and thus become adults early. (Director at Matru Schaya Social Welfare Society (MSSWS)) There is no step-by-step progression from childhood to adolescence. There are sudden changes as 14-year-old boy who stopped coming to the library due to family demand of income. He started to work and became an adult at that moment. (Librarian at “Resettlement and Rehabilitation Center”, Lallubhai compound)

As we can perceive from the interviews, in both contexts the adolescent stage seems to come and go quickly, or directly there is no adolescent stage or just a narrow transition between childhood and adulthood. Whether it is a short or a long stage, the fact is that we need to discover what they expect for their future. Both in the rural and the urban settings, we’ve shown already several testimonies from adolescents pointing out their aspirations. There, it transcended that they not only spoke about their own personal preferences, but in a great degree about their parents’ expectations about them. Children and adolescents do not know what to expect about their future. They don’t have dreams, and no future plans. (Father, teacher and president of PTA in primary school. Shilonda) Teenagers don’t have aspirations because they don’t have exposure. They are connected only to close people. Adolescent’s don’t have decision making capacity. Girls and boys don’t contradict their parents, they just follow whatever they say as issues of marriage, education, for example. (Community leader, Shilonda)

Medical doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers, or aspirations to have good jobs to improve their family and close relations lives, or to improve their capability to help others. These are the main focus of their expressed preferences. Nevertheless, we find also different views from the adults in their social circles and particular factors arose in the two study contexts. It seems that the adults have a lower confidence towards the future life of the younger generations. In some cases, this could respond to the own relational system rooted in collectivist cultures. In fact, Kibria (1993) states that in collectivist cultures (as India) children are encouraged to ask adults for help instead of solving their problems on their own. Such behaviour, according to Kibria, fosters a greater confidence in the other person. Other studies analyse the difference between the so-called individualistic and collectivist cultures, like Hanson (1992, quoted by Tonon et al., 2017a, p. 4), who contends that in individualistic cultures, caregivers encourage children to develop a behaviour that will allow them to act independently as early as possible. Freedom is something your parents give to you. (adolescent boy, Lallubhai) I wanted to join the military. But my parents did not give me an opportunity because I’m the only son. (adolescent boy, Lallubhai)

But beyond this constriction that affect all adolescents, it surfaces another perspective to assess aspirations based on gender gaps. It seems that the androcentric structure within the families perpetuates the gender imbalance in the own setting of long-term goals of their children. This status subordination and gender social injustice is thus

150

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

rooted in the androcentric pattern that is institutionalised in the value system of certain societies, which privileges traits associated with masculinity while devaluing anything coded as “feminine” (Fraser, 2008, p. 92) Girls normally are taking care of their siblings and are thus not able to pursue their dreams. (Mother in Lallubhai) For the future, I’m looking forward of my daughter to take care of my son. (Father, Shilonda) The aspirations are totally different for boys and girls. Adolescent girls are engaged in household works, while the boys have more freedom. (Librarian at “Resettlement and Rehabilitation Center” in Lallubhai compound)

8.4.5 Violence as an Influential Factor in the Aspirations of Girls Children and adolescents reported many instances of verbal and physical violence in the context of the spaces they live, home, schools, within the community, even at weddings and events. The violence was perpetrated by most of the people they came in contact with, including peers, teachers and parents. The narratives of violence were overt, witnessed and experienced first-hand as well. My teachers expect me not to be afraid of them, though sometimes they do scold and hit the pupils. (Adolescent boy in Lallubhai Compound) Children are influenced by bad companies (Mother, Lallubhai Compound). “Use of bad language, people insulting, sense of fear of going alone…” (adolescents in Lallubhai Compound)

Their exposure to violence was aggravated by the high incidence of substance intoxication and addictions in their homes and communities. In the playground, there are drug and alcohol addicts who are occupying these spaces. The children are bullied and cannot go there and play. (Teacher, Lallubhai Compound) Parents here do not concern about their children. These are exposed to violence inside their homes. Fathers use to drink and beat their wives and children. Drinking has been normalised. How could they be their role models? (Head of Khula Aasman Trust organization)

The threat is significantly more compelling in the case of girls. As the CRSA (EDUCO India, 2016, p. 57) concludes, “responses from girls who dropped out of school indicated that their parents asked them to stop going to school when they began their menstruation. Parents shared that they feared for their safety (related to sexual violence). Parents also feared that distance to school reduced family’s ability to ‘control’ the girls and parents feared that they may elope with a boy ‘bringing shame to the family honour”. The place is insecure for girls at night. They cannot go out alone after 8 PM as the street becomes dark and there are drunkards roaming around. There is also some prostitution in the community. (Teacher at Shivam Vidyamandir school in Lallubhai compound)

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

151

It must be acknowledged that the frequency of assault on women is high in the country. The crude and brutal nature of this form of gender inequality makes it a particularly severe manifestation of the deprivation of women (Sen, 2005, p. 237). Numerous testimonies collected through the study corroborated the heightened risks faced by adolescent girls and young women in the urban setting, and especially how insecurity factors can affect their freedom. Similarly, the deeply entrenched system of patriarchy within families, ranging from physical abuse to harmful cultural practices as early marriage, undermines the wellbeing and dignity of girls and adolescents, and dispossesses them of their ability to aspire to a better future. There is a problem about safety of girls. Parents want to get rid of their responsibility if their daughter is harassed. They are blamed on the eyes of others (“eyeing my daughter”). They become a burden, and thus forced to get married at 16-17 years old. In addition, one solution to improve survival needs of the families (food, shelter) is to get their daughters married. Dowry is still very extended practice here, and incidence of arranged marriages are high. Finally, some girls escape their homes for reason of family violence. (Member Jeevan Dhara Foundation. Lallubhai) Bullying and eve-teasing are frequent problems in the community. Children live in fear due to this. Girls want to leave school and get married earlier, and their family feel the same. (Teacher at Shivam Vidyamandir school in Lallubhai compound)

This leads us to reflect how the daily presence of violence in the lives of the children and adolescents can affect their future expectations. The situations are so unbearable that they have to escape from it by resorting to other forms of violence such as early marriage. As Sen (2005, p. 220) states, gender inequality has many faces that are not independent from each other. Rather, gender inequality of one type tends to encourage and sustain gender inequality of other kinds. For example, when women lack decisional power within the family, which amounts to a deprivation of their agency and adversely affect their own wellbeing. This perverse trap is backed by social research that evidence how early marriage and pregnancies affect the health status and prevent adolescent girls from looking for higher goals in their education and livelihood. The lives most abused by frequent childbearing and child rearing are those of young women (…) In a comparative study in 300 districts in India, education and employment of women are found to be the two most important factors in reducing fertility rates (Sen, 2000, p. 240). There are many cases of child marriage. They look at others and would like to have their education. Their health is worse and are always busy with the burden of children. Not confident and not able to achieve their dreams. (Adolescent girl Shilonda)

8.4.6 Role Models in Close and Global Surroundings At the time of envisioning their future expectations, adolescents often look at their relationship circles, starting with the immediate reference of their parents. My aspiration is to achieve higher education like my parents. (adolescent girl, Shilonda) To become an educated person, unlike my parents. (Adolescent boy, Lallubhai)

152

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

Parents are very focused on earning income to sustain the family, and they don’t have interest in supervising the progress of their children in their studies. (Teacher in Lallubhai)

The culture of violence inside the homes and the lack of capacity of the parents to facilitate education and proper attention to their children let us question whom else do young people look for their role models? Many look to their closest relationships as siblings or other relatives (like my sister, like my uncle) who have achieved a level of status that is primarily economic/professional (doctor, nurse, teacher, social workers, police). The adolescents also identify roles models among local agents with whom they interact with. There is variety of role models for adolescents, such as sportsmen, teachers or even former students. (Teacher at Shivam Vidyamandir school, Lallubhai compound) Nowadays, they live in the culture of technology. Children are connected to the social media. There they find their role models. They value recognition (by teachers and others). (Social worker at Khula Aasman Trust, Lallubhai compound) Adolescents have too much exposure to the outside world mainly through their mobiles. They have easy finding of answers on the internet. Their expectations are set by the movies they watch and the celebrities they follow. They copy the patterns of clothes and lifestyles, including the bad language. They drink Coca-Cola and liquors as them. Cell phones definitely are doing a bad influence and spoil the adolescents. Parents aren’t aware of that. They are working most of the time and ignore how their children access to wrong internet sites. (Member Jeevan Dhara Foundation. Lallubhai)

It is a fact that the influence of the outside world is very present in Maharastra’s young people’s projections of their future. But then, what they find looks different from what they’ve perceived through those mirrors. A teacher in Lallubhai reflected about this: “the media, movies, videos, and so on make children aspire for things that are not real”. Actually, Jadhav and Chavah (2015) collected testimonies from residents in Lallubhai reminiscing their life before they moved to that place. This is the case of, a middle-aged woman‘s expectation who stated: “When we were first told that we had to shift from our chawl in Parel to a building, my husband and I were very happy. We thought that our entire lifestyle would change, and we would live with dignity there. But when we came to Lallubhai, we realized that buildings could also be slums!”.

In any case, distorted or not, the aspiration of the youth seems to become a legitimate valve to escape from a present that oppresses them.

8.5 Conclusions Extensive literature has explored the relationship between the construction of expectations in adolescence and the world of self-perceptions. Expectations are a basis for goal setting, exploration, planning and decision-making at this life stage. However, the role of contextual and cultural factors in that construction has received little attention. Adolescent’s expectations are connected with aspirations and perceptions

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

153

of their lives and of the structure of opportunities. Like a wellbeing assessment, expectations are necessarily linked to the values of each cultural context. In both contexts of Maharashtra State (India) where EDUCO Foundation developed the research that is the basis of this chapter—a rural village in Shilonda (Palghar District) and an urban resettlement colony in Mumbai’s M-East ward, Lallubhai Compound-, the adolescent stage seems to come and go quickly in life as if there is just a narrow transition between childhood and adulthood. Both in the rural and the urban settings, it transcended that the adolescents not only spoke about their own personal preferences, but they emphasized the importance about their close relationships’ expectations on them. This allows us to consider interpretations from the collectivist culture vision, but without disregarding the traits of the individualistic culture societies motivated by global trends. Certain studies point out that nowadays we can understand that societies are western or westernized, but this could be a broad brush to paint all as the current cultural globalization without nuances. It is more suggestive to reveal the emergence, the decline or the perpetuation of traits of the three ethics—the ethics of autonomy, of the community and of the divinity- in a given local space and time. It was also highlighted the experiences of adolescents facing stigma and humiliation, that in fact reflects a relational impact of poverty in their wellbeing and in their expectations. These are processes that involve humiliation, shame, self-exclusion, stigmatization and low self-esteem, which lead to gradual narrowing of social and economic horizons and, ultimately, lower life expectations. Children and adolescents reported many instances of verbal and physical violence in the contexts where they live, from home to the school and the whole community. The narratives of violence were overt, witnessed and experienced first-hand. This leads us to reflect how the daily presence of violence in the lives of the children and adolescents can affect and determine their future aspirations. Another trait of violence connects with gender, when adolescent girls dropped out of school because their parents feared for their insecurity and risk to sexual violence. Similarly, the deeply entrenched system of patriarchy within families, ranging from physical abuse to harmful cultural practices as early marriage, undermines the wellbeing and dignity of girls and adolescents, and dispossesses them of their ability to aspire to a better future. These are obstacles for exercising their agency, but also depict the presence of patterns of social injustice in two forms. One, in relation to the presence of traits of an adult-centric perspective, which reveals the social construction that adults conceive and perpetuate about childhood. Second, this reveals the androcentric patterns in specific forms of status of subordination that determine a misrecognition by gender. The use of a wellbeing approach enabled us to explore beyond the lack of income or material resources and to assess the influence of other factors in the children and adolescents’ wellbeing and specially in their expectations, such as the quality of social relationships in the greater interconnectivity across different ‘scales’ from the local to the global, or the traditional or new role models. We can realize the existence of religious customs, like participation in rituals, but some interviewees point out that there is a bit disconnection with something that

154

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

they understand as spirituality. Casts systems and social divisions flow from parents to children and adolescents, although they mutate in subtle forms mostly in urban surroundings. But stigma has more faces than casts, and poverty reaches in forms that decrease the capability to aspire. Or the widening or the erosion of their horizons by living on the move in internal migrations, temporary and seasonal, between a rural and urban world under the lights of Mumbai, the city of dreams. Finally, we find-out there are strong social and cultural norms at local level that influence children and adolescents to decide how to become someone in their society, but some trends of a global culture show nowadays a melting pot with community traits. Close relations and role models from the nomadic tribes and their surroundings are mixed with famous Bollywood actors in the reflect of aspirations, embracing at the same time the universe of senses that the cultural dimension entails.

References Appadurai, A. (2004). The capacity to aspire: Culture and the term of recognition. In V. Rao, & M. Walton (Eds.), Culture and public action (pp. 59–84). Atkinson, S., Bagnall, A. M., Corcoran, R., South, J., & Curtis, S. (2019). Being well together: Individual subjective and community wellbeing. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21, 1903–1921. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00146-2 Bradshaw, J., Hoelscher, P., & Richardson, D. (2007). An index of child wellbeing in the European Union. Social Indicator Research, 80, 133–177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-9024-z Bueno, M. (2017). Sarah C. White: La solidaridad aumenta el bienestar de todos. Magazine EDUCO, May 2017, pp.10–11. bit.ly/2qOuw2H Camfield, L. (2010). Stew without bread or bread without stew: Children’s understandings of poverty in Ethiopia. Children & Society, 24, 271–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2010.00311.x Casas, F. (2010). Indicadores sociales subjetivos y bienestar en la infancia y adolescencia. González-Bueno (2010). Propuesta de un Sistema de Indicadores sobre Bienestar Infantil en España. Ed. UNICEF. https://www.observatoriodelainfancia.es/ficherosoia/documentos/ 2823_d_Informe_Indicadores_Final_UNICEF.pdf Casas, F. (2015). Bienestar material y bienestar subjetivo. El bienestar, una conversación actual de la humanidad (pp. 15–32). Ed. Educo-UB-Icária. http://www.tiac.cat/images/lloc/jornada2015/ documentacio/Bienestar-vol4_Libro2015.pdf Catalano, R., Berglund, M., Ryan, J., Lonczak, S., & Hawkins, D. (2004). Positive youth development in the United States: Research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs. The ANNALS of Political and Social Science, 591–598. https://doi.org/10.1177/000 2716203260102 De Castro, G. (2017). El impacto relacional de la pobreza en la infancia y la adolescencia. Aportes desde el análisis del Bienestar y los Derechos de la Infancia en España (2007–2015). Revista Brasileira de Planejamento e Desenvolvimento, 6 (1). https://doi.org/10.3895/rbpd.v6n1.4604 De Castro, G., Giamelo, C., & Céspedes, M. (2020). Globalization as seen through a locked door. The impact of the Great Recession on the wellbeing of ‘Latchkey Children’ in Spain 2008–2018. Social Work & Society International Online Journal, 18(3). Special Issue: “Child Maltreatment, Child Protection and Child Well-being. Research around borders”. https://bit.ly/3i7AzLz Del Moral, L., Pérez García, A., & Gálvez Muñoz, L. (2017). Una buena vida. Definiendo las capacidades relevantes para el bienestar desde las voces de niñas y niños. Ed. Sociedad e Infancias. Deneulin, S. (2014). Wellbeing, justice and development ethics. Routledge.

8 Adolescents’ Expectations and Wellbeing Perceptions …

155

Denzin, N.K. (1978). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods. NY, Praeger. Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. American Psychological Association, 542–575. 542–575. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542 Dubow, E., Arnett, M., Smith, K., & Ippolito, M. (2001). Predictors of future expectations of innercity children: A 9 month prospective study. Journal of Early Adolescence, 21(1), 5–28. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0272431601021001001 EDUCO. (2020). Territorio Utzil. La construcción e las expectativas de la infancia y la adolescencia en Quiché- Guatemala. Memoria del proyecto de investigación. Mimeo EDUCO India. (2016). Child Rights Situation Analysis, in “Country Plan EDUCO India”, 2017– 2019. https://bit.ly/3JW4BOP Fraser, N. (2008). La justicia social en la era de la política de identidad: redistribución, reconocimiento y participación. Revista de Trabajo, Año 4 (6). Gaitán, L. (2010). Ser niño en el siglo XXI. Cuadernos De Pedagogía, 407, 12–16. Giménez, G. (2005). La concepción simbólica de la cultura. Giménez, G. (ed) Teoría y análisis de la cultura. México: CONACULTA e Instituto Coahuilense de Cultura. 67–88. Haidt, J. (2019). La Mente de los Justos. Por qué la política y la religión dividen a la gente sensata. Ed. Deusto. Hanson, M. J. (1992). Families with Anglo-European roots. In E. W. Lynch, & M. J. Hanson (Eds.), Developing crosscultural competence: A guide for working with young children and their families (pp. 65–87). Baltimore: Brookes. IDRC. (2016). Transforming the slum: The case of Mumbai’s M-Ward. https://bit.ly/3KKYVXE Jadhav, R., & Chavah, A. (2015). The Nightmare that is Lallubhai Compound. Tata Institute of Social Sciences. https://bit.ly/35Z5nvr Kibria, N. (1993). The changing lives of Vietnamese—Americans. Princeton University Press. Khula Aasman & EDUCO India. (2019). How do you feel when you are okay? A child wellbeing report. Mimeo Latagajanan, N. (2019). How children are fighting eve-teasing and drug abuse in Mumbai’s Mankurd. Citizen Matters – Child Rights and Activism. https://bit.ly/3L4EUM3 McGregor, J. A. (2007). Researching wellbeing: From concepts to methodology. In I. Gough, & J. A. McGregor (Eds.), Wellbeing in developing countries. Cambridge University Press. https://doi. org/10.1017/CBO9780511488986 Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2013). Escasez ¿Por qué tener poco significa tanto? Ed. FCE economía. Otano, G. (2015). La Libertad como relación social: Una interpretación sociológica del enfoque de las capacidades de Amartya Sen. Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios del Desarrollo, 4(1), 98–127. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_ried/ijds.144 Pereira, G. (2013). Elements of a critical Theory of Justice. Ed. Palgrave Sánchez-Sandoval, Y., & Verdugo, L. (2016). Desarrollo y validación de la Escala de Expectativas de Futuro en la adolescencia (EEFA). Ed. Anales de Psicología, 32(2) (mayo), 545–554. https:// doi.org/10.6018/analesps.32.2.205661 Sen, A. (2000). Desarrollo y Libertad. Ed. Planeta. Sen, A. (2005). The Argumentative Indian. Penguin Books Sulimani-Aidan, Y. (2015). Do they get what they expect? The connection between young adults’ future expectations before leaving care and outcomes after leaving care. Children and Youth Services Review, 55, 193–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.06.006 Sung, H., & Phillips, R. (2018). Indicators and community well-being: exploring a relational framework. International Journal of Community Well-Being, 1, 63–79.1, 63–79. https://doi.org/10. 1007/s42413-018-0006-0 Tonon, G., Rodríguez de la Vega, L., & Benatuil, D. (2017a). Research with Children. Liamputong, P. (Ed.) Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/ 978-981-10-5251-4_123

156

G.. de Lamela and L. Bueno Conde

Tonon, G. (2017b). Community well-being and national well-being: The opinion of young people (Chapter 28). In R. Phillips, & C. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of Community Well-Being Research (pp. 523–530). International Handbooks of Quality of Life Series, Springer. https://doi.org/10. 1007/978-94-024-0878-2_28. Tonon, G. H., Benatuil, D., & Laurito, M. J. (2017c). Las dimensiones del bienestar de niños y niñas que viven en Buenos Aires. Ed. Complutense, Sociedad e Infancias Magazine. https://doi. org/10.5209/SOCI.55330 Tonon, G. (2020). La satisfacción con la democracia: Revisando el concepto desde la propuesta de Amartya Sen. In N. J. Zamban & H. A. Kujawa (Eds.), Estudos sobre Amartya Sen (Vol. 8, pp. 130–139). https://doi.org/10.22350/9786559170050 Verdugo, L., Sánchez-Sandoval, Y., & Freire, T. (2018). Las relaciones entre autopercepciones y expectativas futuras: un estudio con preadolescentes españoles y portugueses. Revista de Psicodidáctica, 23, 39–47 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psicod.2017.07.005 Weisner, T. (2014). Culture, context, and child well-being. In A. Ben-Arieh, F. Casas, I. Frones, & J. Korbin (Eds.), Handbook of child well-being. Springer Reference. https://doi.org/10.1007/97890-481-9063-8_3 White, S. (2009). Bringing wellbeing into development practice. WeD 09/50. https://bit.ly/34LRboV White, S. C. (2018). Moralities of wellbeing. Proffessorial Inaugural Lecture. Univ. of Bath. 1–24. https://bit.ly/3MRbD97

Gonzalo de Castro Lamela Social Research Coordinator in “Fundación Educación y Cooperación (EDUCO–Spain)”, member fo ChildFund Alliance. PhD. in Law and Social Sciences (Univ. de la República, Uruguay UDELAR); MsC. in Political Science Research (Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain—UAB). More than 25 years working in local, national and international NGOs (YMCA Uruguay; EDUCO; The Protopia Lab), in U.N.O (Mission in D.R. of Congo), Universities (Univ. of Barcelona—UB), and research institutes (Instituto Ciencia Política (ICPUDELAR); Insitut Universitari d’Estudis Europeus (IUEE- UAB). Luis Bueno Conde specialist in Institutional Planning and Organisational Learning at “Fundación Educación y Cooperación (EDUCO- Spain)”, member of ChildFund Alliance. BS in Business Administration (University of Zaragoza, Spain). Trade Advisor scholarship (ICEX) at the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of Spain in Vietnam. 17 years of service at EDUCO foundation, holding various positions such as Country Director in Philippines or global coordinator of project Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).

Chapter 9

Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth Mario Biggeri

and Caterina Arciprete

Abstract The aim of this chapter is to focus on the changes needed to empower children’s agency and to and to make them capable agents and able to exercise active citizenship via education and via participation in research processes (i.e. production of knowledge) and through their involvement in activism and social mobilization. The chapter is structured into seven sections. In the second section, we explore these issues from a child-centred capability approach. The capability approach is used to think about our children’s lives in our societies and how we can engage them as human beings in a process for justice and dignity for all. Child individual agency and children’s collective actions constitute the starting point of this new process of emancipation (Ballet et al., 2011). The third section presents a framework linking children’s agency and active citizenship. The fourth section explores the role of the education system and its transformative impact on children’s agency. The fifth section presents the methods and the potentiality of involving children in knowledge production presenting action research and emancipatory research as potential elements of change and discontinuity in the production of knowledge for decision-making. The sixth section describes meaningful case studies where children are involved in decision making, activism and social movements. In the last section the main conclusions and policy recommendations are given. Keywords Children · Youth · Capabilities · Agency · Citizenship · Empowerment · Knowledge production · Emancipatory research

M. Biggeri (B) · C. Arciprete Department of Economics and Management, University of Florence, ARCO Research Centre, Prato, Italy e-mail: [email protected] C. Arciprete e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_9

157

158

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

9.1 Introduction As we look at the world with critical minds it is impossible to hide from the many injustices and forms of exploitation that occur to children (Clark et al., 2020; UNICEF, 2019; UNICEF Office of Research, 2020). A more just and harmonious world in which children can have a good life and be respected as active and capable agents should not be just a dream. But can this dream be transformed into reality? Which are the missing ingredients and the best processes? Are we ready to challenge ourselves and, together, our societies? The core element of this Copernican revolution is that childhood cannot be conceived just as phase where children prepare for adulthood, but they need to exercise active and social citizenship well before they become adults. Social citizenship is based on three main domains (Halvorsen et al., 2017): security (being protected from major life risks and contingencies), autonomy (being able to live a life in accordance with one values) and influence (being able to participate in public deliberation and decision-making processes). The point is that often children are viewed as ‘human becoming’ rather than as ‘human beings’ and they are mostly left without voice. As Woodhead (2013) states “[…] children are constructed as not yet adult, as in process of ‘becoming’ rather than a person in their own right” (p. 144). In spite of this, everywhere in the world children and young people are already advocating for change on a number of key questions for the society. The last decade saw an increasing leading role of children and young people in environmental activism. It was 2019 when global leader 15-year old Greta Thunberg and FridayForFuture movement succeeded in engaging 1.6 million people for climate change strike across the world. It was early 2022 when environmental activist Breiner David Cucuñame López, 14-year-old was killed in Colombia while protecting its community from environmental threats. A two decades before Iqbal was killed in India for his strong position against child labor exploitation. It was 2014 when Malala got the Nobel laurate for peace together with the children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. It’s worth to recall here that the “childhood” is a cultural and social product that varies across time and spaces rather than a biological construct (Prout & James, 1997). It was only in the last century that—especially in rich countries—childhood has become to be associated with a strong emphasis on protection (happy, safe, protected, innocent childhood as in James, 2009) which might has come at the expenses of the recognition of children’s agency. In this, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) represents a milestone for many reasons including that of balancing the right of the child to be protected with the right of the child to express her own views and to participate to the society.1 In other words, the Convention considers children as legitimate decision makers (about the matters affecting them) while still being under the care of adults. 1

Art. 12 states that children have the right to have their opinions heard and taken into consideration, but does not include the right of the child to decision making.

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

159

The aim of this chapter is to focus on the changes needed to empower children’s agency and to make them capable agents able to exercise active citizenship via education and via participation in research processes i.e. production of knowledge and through their involvement in activism and social mobilization. The chapter is structured into seven sections. In the second section, we explore these issues from a child-centred capability approach. The capability approach is used to think about children lives in our societies and how we can engage them as human beings in a process for justice and dignity for all. Child individual agency and children’s collective actions constitute the starting point of this new process of emancipation (Ballet et al., 2011). The third section presents a framework linking children’s agency and active citizenship. The fourth section explores the role of the education system and its transformative impact on children’s agency. The fifth section presents the methods and the potentiality of involving children in knowledge production presenting action research and emancipatory research as potential elements of change and discontinuity in the production of knowledge for decision-making. The sixth section describes meaningful case studies where children are involved in decision making, activism and social movements. In the last section the main conclusions and policy recommendations are given.

9.2 Children and the Capability Approach The capability approach (CA) is a broad conceptual framework for social justice firstly developed by Sen (1985, 1999) and Nussbaum (2011) and then enriched by the contributions of many other scholars belonging to different disciplines such as sociology, pedagogy and political science (Biggeri & Ferrannini, 2014; Hart et al., 2014; Robeyns, 2016). The main point of the CA is that development should be assessed in terms of opportunities (‘capabilities’) that people have to lead a life they have reason to value. In so doing, it profoundly acknowledges that material and non-material resources are not equated with capabilities because the ability of people to convert resources into opportunities depends on individual characteristics (age, health status, etc.), territorial characteristics (environmental characteristics, presence of infrastructures, etc.) and social factors (e.g. gender norms, attitude towards youth, etc.). As Sen puts it “Since the conversion of primary goods and resources into freedom to select a particular life and to achieve may vary from person to person, equality in holdings of primary goods or resources can go hand in hand with serious inequalities in actual freedoms enjoyed by different persons” (Sen, 1990: 115). Consequently, the metrics for development evaluation should not be limited to income measurement but should include others characteristics accounting for the diversity of living conditions. Essential to the capability approach are the concepts of empowerment, participation and agency. By participating to social change, people get empowered, and participation is crucial to ultimately achieve what one values (Hammock, 2019). Empowerment can be considered as the operationalization of the “agency” aspect of

160

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

the capability approach (Bakhshi & Trani, 2019), meaning that every person must be granted with the space to exercise her agency, to exert her choices, to act coherent with her values. Empowerment cannot be considered as the simple realization of one’ self-efficacy, but it implies a change in power relations, in that empowerment can only be exerted within a changing social and cultural context and often in conflict with it. Starting from the distinction between opportunities and resources and the relevance of conversion factors and agency in peoples’ freedoms, this approach enriches previous theories and analyses on development from both a micro and macro perspective. Since its introduction, the capability approach has been applied to children’s studies on several issues ranging from how to conceptualize children’s material and immaterial dimensions of well-being and how to choose capabilities (Ballet et al., 2011; Domínguez-Serrano & del Moral Espín, 2018) to how to measure children’s growth (Biggeri et al., 2019a, 2019b) or how to frame social justice for children (Schweiger & Graf, 2015). When applying the capability approach to children, the key question is whether we can consider children as subject of capabilities. While it is uncontroversial that societal arrangements should aim to expand the capabilities of children, it is less straightforward to understand how to incorporate the participation component when the subjects are children, namely individuals who are naturally dependent on others and have a ‘reduced’ agency. According to Ballet et al. (2011), children are endowed with agency since they are born. Stoecklin and Bonvin (2014) claim that children have “participative capability” resulting from the combination of skills and the characteristics of an environment. As clearly pointed out by many feminist scholars (Elson, 2016) everyone needs care, protection and support throughout her life. Therefore, being fully independent is not a pre-condition to exercise agency. Children are subject of capabilities just as adults and they act in tandem with adults to purse what they value. By stating that children have agency, we assume that children can make choices regarding the things they value and can act in a team with other agents to enlarge the collective capability set (Biggeri et al., 2019a, 2019b). That children are endowed with agency is a notion that dates back as many scholars within the new sociology childhood studies (Prout & James, 1997) have proved that children are capable of being reflective, of behaving purposively and are able to influence the environment where they live (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). This concept is also referred to as ‘children as capable agents’ (Bonvin & Galster, 2010) meaning that they are able to shape the environment by modifying social structures through social interactions. By being social actors, children have capability through participation whereas as rights-holder they have the right to participate (Stoeckin & Bonvin, 2014). Agency is also a critical component of child’s development and growth. As Ballet et al. (2011) have described the opportunity to exercise their agency is critical in the process of capability expansion. Furthermore, agency is not merely akin to action: it also encompasses the child as a person with opinions (Feeny & Boyden, 2004); and it is not only about increased competences, but it is also about strengthened relations with all the actors that make up the child’s word. As discussed before, agency is strictly connected with the notion of participation and empowerment. Participation empowers the child; it is both an instrument and an end. By giving the children the space for participating, children are cultivating

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

161

critical thinking and democratic practices (Di Masi & Santi, 2012; Nussbaum, 2006); It makes them safer from the risks of abusive behaviors as they learn to express their feelings since a very young age. Participation is also an end itself as it should be guaranteed just as the right to be educated or to be protected from violence. Agency and participation can be nurtured in all the settings where children live and grow up: from family to schools and the overall community.

9.3 Conceptual Framework In this section we try to disentangle the elements and the processes of this evolutionary change towards children’s citizenship. The concepts of “social citizenship” and of “capable agent” are at the core of the theoretical framework used in this chapter. Creating capabilities (Nussbaum, 2011) and agency (Ballet et al., 2011)—i.e. creating capable agents—requires both the contextual structures at different level, processes and resources. Conversion factors and resources (in term of good and services) increase the process freedom and the opportunity freedom (i.e. capabilities). Social citizenship, according to Andersen and Halvorsen (2002: 12–13), is a “…a question of practice: living a decent life in accordance with the prevailing standards in society, being able to act autonomously, being able to participate in social and political life in the broadest sense, and having ‘civic’ orientations to the political community and to one’s fellow citizens”. Also, in the case of children, three are main domains of social citizenship: security, autonomy and influence. These can be experienced—at different grades—by young children in their way towards social citizens. The ‘security domain’ is central for children especially in terms of social protection, and it is linked to effectively be entitled to using social rights to protect against major life risks, such as multidimensional poverty and vulnerability (e.g. lack of entitlement and access to education, health and other basic social services, risk of exclusion risk of exposure to environmental risks). Autonomy is also a key domain as it is linked to agency allowing the child to be part in the process of decision regarding how to live their lives i.e. choice. Influence domain (voice) is thought to create the conditions for children, as citizen, to participate in public deliberation regarding them and the future. These three domains are central to the creation of capable agent and to the enhancement of individual and collective capabilities and agency as described in Fig. 9.1. In underlining and combining the different elements that constitute children’s individual and collective capabilities and agency and empowerment towards the exercise of active citizenship we open-up a Pandora’s Box. These complex processes can bring relevant changes and can produce systemic changes in our society. This transition is linked to the ongoing dynamics among politics, polity and policy. For instance, as we will see in Sect. 9.6, the symptoms of injustice due to unfair children deprivations may create the stimulus and dynamics for political challenges via bottom up movements especially if supported by top down action as from the

162

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

Fig. 9.1 Creating capabilities and agency: Structures, processes and outcomes (Source Author‘s elaborations on Halvorsen et al. [2017, 2018] and Eggers et al. [2019])

UN system or at country level. We have seen that experience of children’s systematic capabilities’ deprivations in terms of individual and collective capabilities stimulate the movements formation for reclaiming their rights. These dynamics challenge politically the status quo and via movements the polity intended as institutional and power structure. At the same time these movements have a strong impact on the behavior and collective preferences in a society up to challenge the societal conversion factors and the choice of children and their families. This process takes time but it is essential to create push towards a political willingness and commitment for change and thus to think and deliberate new policies. These policies gradually reinforce the process of individual and collective capability expansion thanks to better achieved children achieved functionings and increased individual and collective agency and thus creating new energy to movements in politics. In order to capture better the different components and the complexity of these processes the integrated framework proposed by Biggeri and Cuesta (2021) is reported in Fig. 9.2. The framework has been built in order to capture children’s multidimensional deprivations. However, it can also be useful to visually identify how children’s agency and empowerment reinforce children’s capabilities (in the present and in the future) and has the potential to challenge unequal status quo through their exercise of social citizenship. The framework puts the child with her own individual conversion factors at the centre. The age of the child, her maturity, talent, gender, presence of impairments, among other factors, are all decisive in determining her capability set. They influence her capacity to transform the available goods and services into achievable functionings (outcomes) while interacting with the most proximate environments (microsystems). In this framework, the third group of feedback loops (6, 7 and 8) relate to the linkages that determine individual empowerment, while Arrow 9 connects individual dynamics to local development processes. Here it is described how a single child can

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

163

Fig. 9.2 Multidimensional child poverty dynamics: An Integrated Framework (Source Biggeri and Cuesta [2021])

make a difference as shown by Malala (well known for the Peace Nobel Price for her battle against child labor and female children discrimination) and Greta, (leading the movement Fridays 4 Future so individually and collectively). Local-system’s functionings are the outcomes of both bottom-up (via participation) and top-down (policy design) dynamics. At the macrosystem level, child opportunities are enhanced or shunned depending on existing norms, institutions and policies implemented at national level, see for example, Marcus et al. (2002), Harper et al. (2009), Drywood (2011) for mainstreaming children’s rights in policy discourses. At local level spaces of participation and individual and collective agency freedom is important to the transformation of local societies towards more fair societies. This is described by the feedback loops 4, 5a and 5b. Examples of these loops include children’s social movements for ending child labour and child marriage. The environment enabling––or hindering—the development of the child is not limited to a local setting. It may well incorporate trans-territorial interconnections between settings and external influences. The transnational nature of environmental movements that will be described in Sect. 9.5 is illustrative. As described by Biggeri and Cuesta (2021), the microsystem gives resources (material and non-material) to the child (arrow “a” in the lower right panel); helps the child to improve her conversion factors (arrow “b”); and may allow other agents to contribute toward the child’s achieving some functions (arrow “c”); assists the child with the process of choice (arrow “d”); and facilitates—or inhibits—the

164

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

child’s agency, autonomy of judgement, and psychological character and behaviour (arrow “e”). The development of children goes through different steps in which their decision-making processes and agency are shaped by their life experiences and mimicking behaviour. In this continuous dialogue of transformation––that links a-d capture––there are several freedoms that depend on the assistance and actions of others (Sen, 2007: 9). These processes can be long, depending on the context and the structural characteristics and conversion factors (individual, social and environmental) and the commitment of the civil society and policy makers, absorbing in many cases a lot of time and energies. However, it is important also to keep in mind that these processes—as the Pandora’s Box—can be ostracized or interrupted but usually they cannot be stopped forever. In the next three sections we introduce a three prongs strategy based on education for creating capable agent, the involvement of children in the production of knowledge and the opportunity for children to be part of decision-making.

9.4 The Education Role in Children’s Agency and Participation: Creating Capable Agents Education is fundamental for human flourishing, and it is a key for building more inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous societies. The quality of democratic societies is dependent on the quality of education which is in turn modelled by institutions and social norms that are prevalent in each society. Educational policies are shaped by the underlying vision of development and they reflect the idea of the adult the society wants to shape. The outcomes of an education system are responsible for the present and future outcomes of the development processes (Nussbaum, 2011, 2006; Unterhalter, 2009; Walker, 2012; Walker & Unterhalter, 2007). In discussing the goal of education, Sen goes much further the human capital approach by highlighting the empowering role of education as it enables individuals—children—to take part in decision-making processes at household, community or national level: “Illiteracy can also muffle the political opportunities of the underdog, by reducing their ability to participate in political arena and to express their demands effectively” (Sen, 2003). Education is also of intrinsic importance in that being educated is a valuable achievement in itself. Sen sees for example not being able to read or write as a tremendous deprivation itself. Finally, according to Sen, education has transformative potential because people are able to use the benefits of education to help others, as well as themselves and influence social mobility (Sen, 1990). Indeed, for Sen, agency is not mere self-interest but an expression of fairness for oneself and others. As Walker (2005) has shown, education should be concerned with how through education we might contribute to more just social arrangements. Education should develop agency, empowerment and autonomy (Unterhalter, 2009; Walker & Unterhalter, 2007) at both individual and collective level (Biggeri & Ferrannini, 2014). Not surprisingly, there exist a consensus of opinion in the international development agenda that

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

165

expanding access to education is the key to achieve gender equality (Unterhalter, 2009). However, building on Freire (1985) we argue that merely expanding access to education to everyone is not sufficient to challenge existing inequalities and structures of oppression. Access to education is a crucial starting point for equality and empowerment, but it is not sufficient to undo many of the facets of social inequalities. The path from access to education to empowerment is neither direct nor automatic as schools can be bound by institutionalized and reproductive social conventions (Monkman, 2011). It is the quality of education and its underlying approach that matters. Achievement-based educational systems are relevant in enhancing learning but are not sufficient (Biggeri & Santi, 2012). Embracing the capability approach perspective in the education field, means acknowledging the potential crucial role of education in building a fairer society and in truly empowering the most marginalized groups by developing since a very young age children’s capacity for critical thinking, the development of values and capability to aspire (Hart, 2010, 2012; Hart & Brando, 2018; Hart et al., 2014) alongside the development of skills and competences. Education—in a CA perspective—should also incorporate life-skills and should teach children how to be autonomous, how to cooperate and collaborate, and how to interact with others and with the world. Hart (2010) distinguishes 3 components: a critical component, related to the capacity to reason and to understand the consequence of one’s choice and to develop a sense of good, a creative component, related to the capacity of imagining new ways of seeing and connecting the experience’s elements; and a caring component, based on the affective, emotional, motivational dimensions of thinking. We add to this a fourth component, that is the capacity to feel a sense of challenging unjust political structures. This requires a shift in the predominant educational approaches towards those pedagogies that foster the creation of spaces were children learn to engage in the exercise of democracy, citizenship, and cooperation with a tailored approach suitable for different ages and maturity which includes faculties such as: listening to others, expressing one’s own mind, resolving differences, evaluating alternatives, advancing proposals, welcoming challenges, avoiding reasoning mistakes and learning from experiential errors (Biggeri & Santi, 2012). Education systems should prioritize pedagogies that promote a sense of agency since a very young age allowing children and youth to perceive themselves—and to act— as citizen of today rather than adults in preparation. Next section describes examples of children’s participation and activism and how they derive a sense of agency by it.

9.5 Involving Children in Knowledge Production Through Emancipatory Research The last decades, also due to the widespread recognition that children are competent in all the matters that concern them as well as that they have the right to express their views led to an increased participation of children and youth in the research (Lansdown, 2005). According to Lundy (2007), children’s participation in research

166

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

requires specific conditions: (i) that children have the space to express their views; (ii), that their voice is enabled; (iii) that they have an audience, and (iv) that their views have an influence. In order to elicit children’s perspective, it is important to use age-specific techniques. They include semi-structured individual interviews, group discussions, observational techniques, visual methods as body mapping, mobility maps, vignettes, collages, drawings (Crivello et al., 2013). Each of them has pro and cons. Generally speaking, in all those settings where children have not the habit of discussing the matters affecting them, the use of participatory visual methods might me more be appropriate (James, 2007). However, there is also evidence that using mixed method to have meaningful engagement with children and best data, might offer the best approach (Clark et al., 2008; Darbyshire et al., 2005). Involving children in research is challenging as creating the space for genuine participation requires time, flexibility and reflexivity. The asymmetries of power between adult researchers and young participants (particularly when living in conditions of poverty) may inhibit them, making them feel intimidated or pressurized (Literat, 2013). Most of the research with children involve them as “active informants”, meaning that they are recognized as expert and their opinion is considered valuable. For example, hearing children’s voices can inform social institutions such as schools’ organization in a way that meets more reasonably their real needs. However, creating the space for children’s participation in research may not have an empowering impact neither at the individual lever nor at the collective level. Indeed, merely including someone from outside can fall under the category of tokenism (Hart, 1992). According to Oliver (1997) to include meaningfully someone in the “game research” you need to change the rules of the game. This is why we argue that in order to build a society where children are capable agents, we need to include them actively in the production of knowledge. Emancipatory research can serve this aim. It proposes horizontal, non-hierarchical, subject–subject relationships between researchers and research subjects wherein all participating parties are held in equal importance and are interchangeable as problem-solvers, thinkers and learners. For instance, Don Lorenzo Milani, an Italian priest and educator who worked in deeply deprived mountain areas in central Italy conducted simple research activities on education poverty and exclusion with his students (School of Barbiana, 1967) coming from very poor farmer families with a huge impact on the Italian society’s thought. Particularly influential for the development of emancipatory research is the work done by Freire (1996) in São Paulo’s favelas. The main point was not only that research subjects were considered endowed with competences and analytical skills to understand the drivers behind their poverty, but also that the act of research itself was a fundamental component of the work of ‘emancipation’ and ‘conscientisation’ to gain greater influence over decision-making processes, thanks to stronger ownership and control of knowledge production processes (Boog, 2003). The main aim of the emancipatory research methodology is to promote empowerment among the marginalized groups of the society. People involved in this type of research are individuals who are disadvantaged due to structural economic, social, political and cultural inequalities that prevent them to fully participate to the society.

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

167

In this methodology, the research object becomes the subject of research itself through a process of training and awareness-raising. Adopting this approach, the marginalized groups of the society acquire specific knowledge for active participation and research implementation. Through critical discussion and analysis of the research questions, the marginalized groups become aware of their rights and of the structural causes of their oppression, elaborating practical solutions to improve their living conditions and becoming able to control the process of knowledge production on themselves. An essential component of this methodology is that the results are object of advocacy in order to foster social transformation and the adoption of inclusive policies (Biggeri & Ciani, 2019). Emancipatory research can be considered as a powerful channel for children to make their voce heard in the knowledge production. There are some conditions that need to be respected: 1. As children do not share the same theoretical interests as adult researchers it is important to make sure that research question mirrors children’s interest. This implies involving children from the very beginning of the research in a discussion about priorities and relevance. The experience of involving children as researchers/co-researches goes in this direction. Illustrative examples can be found in Bangladesh (Doná, 2006), Malawi (Robson et al., 2009), Ghana (Porter & Abane, 2008), South Africa (Motha et al., 2019). 2. Power relations with children have to be carefully considered and research methods and tools must allow researchers to effectively shift the control of the process of knowledge. Some examples include street children being interviewed by peers (Anich et al., 2011) or using collages technique to elicit the frame of reference (Nomakhwezi Mayaba & Wood, 2015). All in all, inductive approach must be privileged over deductive approach as the former allow to construct explanatory theories that uncovers processes that might be ignored by adults. 3. The process of emancipation takes time. While participatory research can be conducted in a single activity, emancipatory research is necessarily a process that involves participants for a long-term project where children and youth are involved at different stages: from the identification of the research questions to data analysis and dissemination. 4. The power of collective is a fundamental component of emancipation. As discussed in the first section, acquiring agency and being able to participate is not merely a way to improve one’s lives but can be used to help others and the society. Being able to make children heard as collective increase their capability to mobilize as a group. 5. Making sure that children through their involvement in research gain awareness, skills, and an increased capacity to assess their situation. Thus, the impact of the emancipatory research with children should be rigorously assessed. Specifically, when the research is ended, there should a be an evaluation of the extent to which children’s capabilities and empowerment have increased as a result of their participation to research.

168

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

6. Be sure that the ethical conduct of the research is strictly respected. The aim is that children’s rights are safeguarded and promoted through their involvement in the research departing from the most fundamental consideration about whether the research needs to be undertaken, if children needs to be involved and how (Graham et al., 2015). One illustrative example of emancipatory research with youth is the research conducted under the European-funded project “Caring”2 where researchers have engaged a group of care leavers (youth in the process of leaving care) in a 2-years research project aimed at identifying shared needs and aspirations, supporting the adult researchers in elaborating policy recommendations and having a role in advocacy and dissemination in order to raise awareness about care leavers. The research toolkit includes collage technique and video production. In order not to risk stigmatizing and labelling them, it was important that the group dimension was not at the expense of the unique biographical experience of participants. Thus, researchers have attempted to keep a delicate balance between the recognition as a group and the recognition of the value of the single lived experience of each participant. As Terzi (2005) puts it: we need to identify children’s difference while keeping “the sameness” and offering common perspective.

9.6 Challenging Power Structures: Children Influencing Decision-Making Processes Involving children into social research constitutes a powerful channel to build a society that mirrors the voice and the needs of children and young people. However, it is not the only one; we can find several examples where children and young people through engagement in decision making and in social and political movements prove to contribute to matters that concern them and the society. There exist different levels and typologies of children’s and youth participation in decision making. For example, children’s participation has become a praxis in many international organizations that need to consult youth committee at same stage of their process of decision-making. Notable examples include the role of youth delegate in a country’s official delegation to the United Nations General Assembly or the Youth Advisory Group on Climate change. Examples of spaces for participation where children can express their voice are also widespread at local level. For example, youth councils are a well-known mechanism through which youth may contribute to decision-making at community level (Di Masi & Santi, 2012). Although they differ in nature, composition and goals, Taft and Gordon (2013) identify some common characteristics: youth councils connect young people to policymakers, participating youth are considered experts on youth issues, 2

https://www.caringproject.eu/en/home/.

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

169

councils work exclusively on issues of policy related to youth, they are formalized and usually part of the government structure, they are authorized by statute or executive order, have adult staff to support the work, and meet on a regular or semi-regular basis. Besides youth councils there are other way by which youth can have input into community decision-making. For example, they can be involved as experts on matters concerning them at urban level. In their systematic review of urban planning involving children and youth, Ataol et al. (2019), showed that by participating to urban planning children manifested increased knowledge about social problems and social rights, gained a self of self-development and increased their relationship with the institutional world. These experiences of children’s and youth participation contribute to educating children about citizenship and make them aware of living in society with shared responsibilities and duties towards the other. Nonetheless, most of these experiences are adult driven and they risk falling under tokenism meaning that children are only apparently given a voice, but in fact they have not the capability to exert meaningful influence on the process of decision making (Collins et al., 2016). Put it different, many of these experiences such as school councils or youth forum have been more about giving children opportunities to practice good citizenship rather than giving them the chance to have their voice truly heard (Crowley, 2015). An example of meaningful participation although fully supported by adults is the Children’s World Congress—organized by the Global March Against Child Labour (GMACL). This represented a major expression of the commitment of civil society to the effective protection of all children against work exploitation. Around 200 children and youth—aged between 11 and 17 years old—representing different regions, countries, and organizations, and coming from different cultures and backgrounds, shared their experiences, knowledge and aspirations, and participated in different activities leading to the formation of Action Plans (GMACL, 2004). They brought a body of experience and knowledge that proved to be fundamental for the understanding of child labor (Biggeri et al., 2006) and inform related policies and priorities. While these examples refer to practices of participation where the space is given and designed by adults, there is also the case when children and young people claim the space for participation through activism and participation to social and political movements. Environmental movements can be illustrative in this point. Since many decades, environmental damage is a pressing human rights challenge, which impacts children’s lives today and, in the future (IPCC, 2021). As Brianna Fruean noted (UNCRC, 2017) ‘there is a common misconception that children will live with the consequences of climate change in the future, when the reality is that children are dealing with consequences of climate change as we speak.’ Indeed, children are overrepresented in the countries that are most affected by the consequences of climate change, are exposed to some risks that adults are not, can’t control their exposures to the risks, and depend on their parents‘ care and ability to protect them. Finally, they are the least empowered to assess information, to raise their voice and be heard, or access justice (UNCRC, 2017). Children’s participation on environmental matters has been formally recognized in different levels, such as through the SDG (13), target 13(b) on climate change.

170

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

However, children and youth have always faced obstacles to effective participation. Reasons for preventing them from meaningful participation in decision-making included the lack of competences and skills; the current institutional framework, the child-unfriendly consultation processes (UNCRC, 2017). However, the last 10 years have seen the rapid growth of an environmental movement led by children and young people (Rousell & Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, 2020). More children and youth have started fighting for climate change throughout all the world either by joining existing organizations, creating their own and sometimes this was at risk of their own life such as for the environmental activist 14-year-old who was killed in Colombia while protecting its community from environmental threats. In the last 3 years, most of these movements and activists joined the global movement “Friday For Future”. This movement was initiated by the 15-year-old Swedish student Greta Thunberg who first launched a school strike for climate outside the Swedish Parliament, which was eventually joined by other young students from all over the world under the banner Fridays for Future (FFF). During 2019, the mobilization grew into a global mass movement and several global climate strikes were organized, the largest of which in 2019 mobilized about 7.6 million people from 185 countries (de Moor et al., 2021). Although the phenomenon is recent and the impact is not yet well documented, there is increasing evidence that this movement and her leader Greta Thunberg have managed to shape collective efficacy beliefs and motivated collective action (Sabherwal et al., 2021). This is the most illustrative example for its capacity to cross the boundaries of nations. But several other examples across the worlds exists. Malala Yousafzai, the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate, was 11 when she started wring a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC Urdu detailing her life under Talibans and she was 15 when she was shot by a gun man for her activism in the field of education. Others notable examples include palestinian children challenging Israeli occupation through their acts of resistance as well as the group of working children and adolescents that on the 18 December 2013 marched through the street of La Paz, Bolivia protesting a law that barred children from work before turning 14. Rodgers (2020) provides an overview from both theoretical and empirical point of view of children’s participation in social movements. In conclusion, everywhere in the world children and young people are already mobilizing and advocating for change on several key questions for the society. It is now up to the society being able to listen.

9.7 Policy Implications and Conclusions Through combined use of the concept of social citizenship and the capability approach, it is possible to analyze ongoing social, economic, and cultural processes that influence the opportunities for exercising social citizenship by children and youth, thus, contributing to the understanding on how society may pursue and foster social cohesion and sustainability. Indeed, applying the CA to children opens up new perspective and raises the possibility of children as capable agents (at different levels

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

171

of maturity) that can part of the solution to achieve a better future if they are given the voice and the space for participating. According to Biggeri et al. (2011: 341), “the responsibility of policy makers is to create an environment—by including children themselves in the process— which facilitates the ability of children to pursue worthwhile and flourishing lives”. It important to note that the concept of flourishing lives (Nussbaum, 2011) is strongly linked to both material and immaterial aspects of well-being and includes dimensions such as social relations, participation and spirituality. All in all, this requires a change in mindset from a world where children are considered as adults of tomorrow to a world where children have the capability to contribute to shape the world where we live according to their age, their level of maturity and their values. The education system can be a milestone of this process as it has the potential to develop children’s capacity for critical thinking, the formation of values and the capability to aspire for a social change (Biggeri & Santi, 2012). This also requires a rethinking of the educations system entailing both a cultural and institutional shift, as well as an operative and organizational change. Moreover, knowledge production can be conceived of as a fundamental component of the work of ‘emancipation’ and ‘conscientization’ to develop agency skills, improve problem-solving abilities, increase self-determination and gain greater influence over decision-making processes. This can be obtained only via stronger ownership and control of knowledge production processes which can ultimately impact the elaboration of policies. In this sense, emancipatory research can offer new ways of meaningfully include children in research. Furthermore, children’s collective actions and identity constitute the start of this new process of emancipation. Participation and peaceful struggle for recognition are preconditions for empowerment and for realizing and claiming new rights. Actual and past experiences of children’s participation in activism, social movements, and local governance show already that children can contribute to shape better policies and to change social norms toward a fairer society. Whether all these changes happen depends on the capacity of the adults to recognize that children are authentic agents and participants of the society. These arguments have strong policy implications and unlock new frontiers for research regarding child’s agency and empowerment, participation and research methods.

References Andersen, J., & Halvorsen, K. (2002). Changing labour markets, unemployment and unemployment policies in a citizenship perspective. Policy Press. Anich, R., Biggeri, M., Libanora, R., & Mariani, S. (2011). Street children in Kampala and NGOs’ actions: Understanding capabilities deprivation and expansion. In Children and the capability approach (pp. 107–136). Palgrave Macmillan. Ataol, Ö., Krishnamurthy, S., & van Wesemael, P. (2019). Children’s participation in urban planning and design: A systematic review. Children, Youth and Environments, 29(2), 27–47.

172

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

Bakhshi, P., & Trani, J. F. (2019). Participatory development: A sustainable approach for reducing inequality and fighting poverty? The example of disability policies in afghanistan. In The capability approach, empowerment and participation (pp. 157–191). Palgrave Macmillan. Ballet, J., Biggeri, M., & Comim, F. (2011). Children’s agency and the capability approach: A conceptual framework. In M. Biggeri, J. Ballet, & F. Comim (Eds.), Children and the capability approach (pp. 22–45). Palgrave Macmillan. Biggeri, M., Ballet, J., & Comim, F. (Eds.). (2011). Children and the capability approach. Palgrave Macmillan. Biggeri, M., & Ferrannini, A. (2014). Sustainable human development: A new territorial and peoplecentred perspective. Springer. Biggeri, M., & Ciani, F. (2019). Emancipatory research as empowerment: An illustration from a research study of persons with disabilities in Palestine. In The capability approach, empowerment and participation (pp. 339–359). Palgrave Macmillan. Biggeri, M., Arciprete, C., & Haisma, H. (2019a). A capability approach to child growth. Child Indicators Research, 12(2), 711–731. Biggeri, M., Arciprete, C., & Karkara, R. (2019b). Children and youth participation in decisionmaking and research processes. In The capability approach, empowerment and participation (pp. 193–221). Palgrave Macmillan. Biggeri, M., & Cuesta, J. A. (2021). An integrated framework for child poverty and well-being measurement: Reconciling theories. Child Indicators Research, 14(2), 821–846. Biggeri, M., Libanora, R., Mariani, S., & Menchini, L. (2006). Children conceptualizing their capabilities: Results of a survey conducted during the first children’s world congress on child labour. Journal of Human Development, 7(1), 59–83. Biggeri, M., & Santi, M. (2012). The missing dimensions of children’s well-being and wellbecoming in education systems: Capabilities and philosophy for children. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 13(3), 373–395. Bonvin, J. M., & Galster, D. (2010). Making them employable or capable? Social Integration Policies at a Crossroads. https://doi.org/10.2307/J.CTVDF0CHG.6 Boog, B. W. (2003). The emancipatory character of action research, its history and the present state of the art. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 13(6), 426–438. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 723–742. Chambers, R. (1997). Whose reality counts (Vol. 25). Intermediate technology publications. Clark, A., Kjørholt, A. T., & Moss, P. (Eds.). (2008). Beyond listening: Children Perspectives on early childhood services. The Policy Press. Clark, H., Coll-Seck, A., Banerjee, A., Peterson, S., Dalglish, S. L., & Ameratu, S. (2020). A future for the world’s children? A WHO–UNICEF–Lancet. The Lancet Commissions, 395(10224), 605– 658. Collins, M. E., Augsberger, A., & Gecker, W. (2016). Youth councils in municipal government: Examination of activities, impact and barriers. Children and Youth Services Review, 65, 140–147. Crivello, G., Morrow, V., & Wilson, E. (2013). Young lives longitudinal qualitative research: A guide for researchers (Technical Note 26). Young Lives. Crowley, A. (2015). Is anyone listening? The impact of children’s participation on public policy. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 23(3), 602–621. Darbyshire, P., MacDougall, C., & Schiller, W. (2005). Multiple methods in qualitative research with children: More insight or just more? Qualitative Research, 5(4), 417–436. de Moor, J., De Vydt, M., Uba, K., & Wahlström, M. (2021). New kids on the block: Taking stock of the recent cycle of climate activism. Social Movement Studies, 20(5), 619–625. Di Masi, D., & Santi, M. (2012). Poli§ofia: A P4C curriculum towards citizenship education. In M. Santi & S. Oliverio (Eds.), Educating for complex thinking through philosophical inquiry: Models, advances and proposals for the new millennium (pp. 151–167). Liguori.

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

173

Domínguez-Serrano, M., & del Moral Espín, L. (2018). From relevant capabilities to relevant indicators: Defining an indicator system for children’s well-being in Spain. Child Indicators Research, 11(1), 1–25. Doná, G. (2006). Children as research advisors: Contributions to a ‘methodology of participation’ in researching children in difficult circumstances. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 2(2), 20–32. Drywood, E. (2011). ‘Child-proofing’ EU law and policy: Interrogating the law-making processes behind European asylum and immigration provision. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 19(3), 405– 428. Eggers, T., Grages, C., & Pfau-Effinger, B. (2019). Self-responsibility of the “active social citizen”: Different types of the policy concept of “active social citizenship” in different types of welfare states. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(1), 43–64. Elson, D. (2016). Plan F: Feminist plan for a caring and sustainable economy. Globalizations, 13(6), 919–921. Feeny, T., & Boyden, J. (2004). Acting in adversity—rethinking the causes, experiences and effects of child poverty in contemporary literature (QEH Working Paper 116). Queen Elizabeth House. Frediani, A. A., Peris, J., & Boni, A. (2019). Notions of empowerment and participation: Contributions from and to the capability approach. In The capability approach, empowerment and participation (pp. 101–124). Palgrave Macmillan. Freire, P. (1985) The politics of education: Culture, power, AAD liberation. Bergin & Garvey. Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin Books. FridaysForFuture. (2020). Fridays for future—Who we are. https://fridaysforfuture.org Graham, A., Powell, M. A., & Taylor, N. (2015). Ethical research involving children: Encouraging reflexive engagement in research with children and young people. Children & Society, 29(5), 331–343. Halvorsen, R., Hvinden, B., Brown, J. B., Biggeri, M., Tøssebro, J., & Waldschmidt, A. (Eds.). (2017). Understanding the lived experiences of persons with disabilities in nine countries: Active citizenship and disability in Europe (Vol. 2). Routledge. Hammock, J. (2019). The practice of participation and the capability approach. In The Capability approach, empowerment and participation (pp. 39–54). Palgrave Macmillan. Harper, C., Jones, N., & McKay, A. (2009). Including children in policy responses to economic crises: Lessons from the past and policies for a sustainable future. ODI and UNICEF synthesis conference paper. Hart, C. S. (2010). Aspirations re-examined: A capability approach to widening participation in higher education. Doctoral thesis, University of Cambridge. Hart, C.S. (2012) Aspirations, education and social justice: Applying Sen and Bourdieu. Bloomsbury. Hart, C. S., Biggeri, M. and Babic, B. (Eds.). (2014). Agency and participation in childhood and youth: International applications of the capability approach in schools and beyond. Bloomsbury. Hart, C. S., & Brando, N. (2018). A capability approach to children’s well-being, agency and participatory rights in education. European Journal of Education, 53(3), 293–309. James, A. (2009). Agency. In The Palgrave handbook of childhood studies (pp. 34–45). Palgrave Macmillan. James, A. (2007). Giving voice to children’s voices: Practices and problems, pitfalls and potentials. American Anthropologist, 109, 261–272. James, A., & Prout, A. (Eds.). (1997). Constructing and reconstructing childhood; contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood. The Falmer Press. Kellett, M. (2005). Children as active researchers: A new research paradigm for the 21st century? ESRC. Lansdown, G. (2005). The evolving capacities of the child (No. innins05/18). UNICEF. Literat, I. (2013). A pencil for your thoughts: Participatory drawing as a visual research method with children and youth. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 12, 85–98.

174

M. Biggeri and C. Arciprete

Lundy, L. (2007). ‘Voice’ is not enough: Conceptualising Article 12 of the United Nations convention on the rights of the child. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 927–942. Marcus, R., Wilkinson, J., & Marshall, J. (2002). Poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSP)— Fulfilling their potential for children in poverty? Journal of International Development, 14(8), 1117–1128. Monkman, K. (2011). Framing gender, education and empowerment. Research in Comparative and International Education, 6(1), 1–13. Motha, K. C., Makgamatha, M. M., & Swartz, S. (2019). Towards emancipatory research methodologies with children in the African context: Practical possibilities and overcoming challenges. HTS Teologiese Studies/theological Studies, 75(1), 1–11. Nomakhwezi Mayaba, N., & Wood, L. (2015). Using drawings and collages as data generation methods with children: Definitely not child’s play. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(5), 1609406915621407. Nussbaum, M. (2011). Creating capabilities: The human development approach. Belknap Press. Nussbaum, M. (2006). Frontiers of justice: Disability, nationality, species membership. Harvard University Press. Oliver M. (2002), Emancipatory research: A vehicle for social transformation or policy development. Presentation at the 1st annual disability research seminar. Hosted by The National Disability Authority and The Centre for Disability Studies, University College Dublin. https://www.um.es/ discatif/PROYECTO_DISCATIF/Textos_discapacidad/00_Oliver3.pdf Oliver, M. (1997). Emancipatory research: Realistic goal or impossible dream. In C. Barnes & G. Mercer (Eds.), Doing disability research (pp. 15–31). The Disability Press. Porter, J., & Abane, A. (2008). Increasing children’s participation in African transport planning: Reflections on methodological issues in a child-centred research project. Children’s Geographies, 6(2), 151–167. Prout, A., & James, A. (1997). A new paradigm for the sociology of childhood? Provenance, promise and problems. In Constructing and reconstructing childhood: Contemporary issues in the sociological study of childhood. Routledge. Robertson, J. (2017). Rethinking learner and teacher roles: Incorporating student voice and agency into teaching practice. Journal of Initial Teacher Inquiry, 3, 41–44. Robeyns, I. (2016). Capabilitarianism. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 17(3), 397–414. Rodgers, D. M. (2020). Children in social movements: Rethinking agency, mobilization and rights. Routledge. Rousell, D., & Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, A. (2020). A systematic review of climate change education: Giving children and young people a ‘voice’ and a ‘hand’ in redressing climate change. Children’s Geographies, 18(2), 191–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2019.1614532 Sabherwal, A., Ballew, M. T., van der Linden, S., Gustafson, A., Goldberg, M. H., Maibach, E. W., Kotcher, J. E., Swim, J. K., Rosenthal, S. A., & Leiserowitz, A. (2021). The greta thunberg effect: Familiarity with greta thunberg predicts intentions to engage in climate activism in the United States. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12737 Schweiger, G., & Graf, G. (2015). Social justice for children: A capability approach. In A philosophical examination of social justice and child poverty (pp. 15–66). Palgrave Macmillan. Sen, A. K. (2003). Speech during the 2003 Commonwealth Education Conference in Edinburg. Commonwealth Education. Sen, A. K. (1990). Justice: Means versus freedom. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 19, 111–121. Sen, A. K. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford University Press. Sen, A. K. (2007). Children and Human Rights. Indian Journal of Human Development, 2(1). Stoecklin, D., & Bonvin, J. M. (2014). Children’s rights and the capability approach. In: Children’s well-being: Indicators and research. Springer. Taft, J. K., & Gordon, H. R. (2013). Youth activists, youth councils, and constrained democracy. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 8(1), 87–100.

9 Children as Capable Agents and Citizen: Empowering Children and Youth

175

Terzi, L. (2005). Beyond the dilemma of difference: The capability approach to disability and special educational needs. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 39(3), 443–459. UNCRC. (1989, November 20). Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations UNCRC. (2017). Report of the 2016 day of general discussion children’s rights and the environment. UNCRC. UNICEF. (2019). Are we on track to achieve the SDGs for Children? The situation in 2019. In Progress for every child in the SDG era. https://data.unicef.org/resources/progress-for-everychild-in-the-sdg-era-2019/ UNICEF Office of Research. (2020). Worlds of influence: Undestanding what shapes child wellbeing in rich countries: Innocenti report card 16. UNICEF Office of Research. Unterhalter, E. (2009). What is equity in education? Reflections from the capability approach. Studies in philosophy and education, 28(5), 415–424. Walker, M. (3 Oct. 2005). The capability approach and social justice in education, Maitreyee. Walker, M. (2012) Egalitarian policy formulation in lifelong learning: two models of lifelong education for young people in Europe. In D. Aspin, J. Chapman, K. Evans & R. Bagnall (Eds.), Second international handbook of lifelong learning. Springer. Walker, M., & Unterhalter, E. (Eds.). (2007). Amartya Sen’s capability approach and social justice in education. Palgrave. Woodhead, M. (2013). Childhood: A developmental approach. In M. J. Kehily (Ed.), Understanding childhood: A cross disciplinary approach (1st ed., pp. 99–160). Bristol University Press. https:// doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1t89f1h.8

Mario Biggeri Full Professor of Applied Economics and Development Economics at the University of Florence. Since 2010, he is a Fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association. Since 2008, he is the scientific Director of ARCO (Action Research for CO-development) a research center based in Italy as well as Director of the Scientific and Ethical Committee of Yunus Social Business Center University of Florence (funded in April 2011). His research concentrates on the political economy for local sustainable human development and, in particular for Agenda 2030, international cooperation programs, social economy and social enterprises, social business and local development, collective action, and on children well-being, children poverty, children and youth agency and education, persons with disabilities and migrants, well-being and poverty measurement, impact evaluations and qualitative and quantitative research methods. He is the author and/or co-author of 20 books and stands out with many publications in international academic journals. Among others, he has been a consultant and advisor for UNICEF, UNDP, UNDP ART, the World Bank, ILO and the European Commission Caterina Arcipret She is a post-doc researcher at the University of Florence. Since 2015, she is a researcher for ARCO (Action-Research for CO-Development) a research centre based in Italy. She is a development economicst with a focus on child multidimensional poverty and wellbeing, gender issues and disability. She combines quantitative methodologies with and participative methodologies. She holds a Ph.D in Development Economics from the University of Florence and was a visiting scholar at Oxford University as part of “Young Lives” project. From 2016 to 2019 she was co-coordinator of the thematic group “Children and Youth” of the Human Development and Capability Association. Her research focuses on children living in inner areas, children in alternative care, children’s participation, children with disabilities, violence against women and children. She has worked in Senegal, Algeria, India, Jordan and Tanzania. She has been a consultant for UNICEF Innocenti, UNICEF Madagascar, UNDP, Terre des Hommes. She has several publications in academic journals.

Chapter 10

Social Justice—From Potential to Practice: The Shared Benefit of Change for Children Cornelia C. Walther

Abstract A person’s genetic set-up, talents, upbringing, education, the resulting skills, knowledge, experience and social connections equips every individual to contribute in a unique way to the organic kaleidoscope of life. When a person refrains from participating in society in line with that inherent potential their contribution goes missing. Whether passively or actively they hereby deprive themselves and those around of an influence that might trigger a shift in society towards shared wellbeing. Today billions of children around the world are deprived not only of enjoying many of their rights, but of the opportunity to reveal their inherent potential. The status quo openly defeats the ambition of social justice that underpins international legal instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention of the Rights of the Child. It contradicts the aspiration to humane values that is engraved in the moral footprint of homo sapiens. Simply said it deprives humanity of the largest chunk of its immense human capital. The extent to which the individual child gets the opportunity to identify, reveal and share their potential is largely determined at birth. Social Justice means to nurture a social setting where everyone, independently of the lottery ticket of their birth, gets a fair chance. This chapter explores on the one hand responsibility as the natural counterpart of the legal entitlements that every individual has to survive and thrive. On the other hand, it looks at possible entry-points via the lens of the micro (individual), meso (community), macro (society) and meta (planet) continuum. The proposed argumentation is anchored in the POZE a paradigm which looks at human life as a composition of twice four dimensions, whereby the soul, heart, mind and body of the individual reflect the individuals, communities, society and ultimately the universe that they are part of. The central message is that Social Justice is a win–win–win–win for all parties because individual wellbeing is the cause and condition of collective wellbeing.

C. C. Walther (B) POZE, Tuebingen, Germany e-mail: [email protected] Center for Social Norms and Behavior Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 G. Tonon (ed.), Social Justice for Children in the South, Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5045-2_10

177

178

Cornelia C. Walther

Keyword Social change · Connection · Complementarity · System thinking · POZE

10.1 Introduction This chapter briefly lays out the contours of a new perspective to life, and the practical tools that derive from it to offer all children a fair chance to thrive. Anchored in the understanding that individual wellbeing is the cause and consequence of collective wellbeing, it is shown how and why all children could fulfill their inherent potential, if humanity genuinely aspired to a society that flourishes with fairness. Humans around the World are fundamentally all the same; the result of four dimensions—soul, heart, mind, and body, which find their expression in aspirations, emotions, thoughts, and sensations, which influence their experiences and expressions. Through these four dimensions, which constantly interact and impact each other, each person reflects the four dimensions that shape their environment—individuals, community, country, planet. An ongoing interplay within and between these dimensions’ shapes reality. Nothing happens in a vacuum. From micro via meso and macro to meta-everything is connected. Adopting this perspective makes the seemingly utopian statement that ‘we can change the world’ a pragmatic undertaking that begins at the core of the center, with the aspiration of individuals for meaning (Walther, 2020a). Children are the ambassadors of such meaning, the carriers of hope for change that leads to social justice and ultimately a world where everyone is welcome. Children, no matter their race or location, socio-economic background or special needs represent a part of the micro dimension that stands at the center of everything else. To not only survive but thrive on fulfilling their inherent potential they must receive special care and protection. This has been recognized in the legal space. For instance, with the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), which has found a reflection in various regional and national legal instruments. From families to schools, children are constitutive components of society, and must be respected as such. Recognizing their status as right holders in general in terms of Human Rights, and as especially protected parts of humanity in particular, is not a theoretical debate, but a mindset to be adopted, individually and collectively. The quality of life that children around the world experience depends on everyone. It is an opportunity, that comes with an obligation; neither of which can be delegated to an institution (Walther, 2014). The potential of influencing another person’s life is inherent to human nature. Individuals and sub-national institutions shape countries and their supra-national interaction. The course of Society hinges on the evolution of these dimensions, which are interconnected and mutually shape each other. For example, while the meso-dimension is sub-national, certain institutions at the meso-level have counterparts at supra-national level (i.e. churches, multinational companies). This double nature illustrates the inseparable nature of all dimensions, which are connected through an ongoing dynamic of mutual interaction. A similar

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

179

double-sized nature marks the meta-dimension which entails on the one hand supranational institutions such as the United Nations, and on the other hand the sum of all entities, and spheres that are not human-related such as Nature. Within this social kaleidoscope change starts with the attitude and action of individuals, or, the values that these are guided by. Durable social change starts at the center, and is nurtured from the periphery, through a web of interactions between manifold dimensions. Looking at the interactions that are conducive to social justice—or the practical respect of children’s legal entitlements—the present chapter offers a holistic framework to assess and addresses the organic interplay of individuals, institutions, countries and society overall. Respectively and combined they are at stake in the endeavor of manifested social justice. What follows is based on the POZE paradigm, thus the understanding that change starts from the inside out—with the aspiration of individuals for meaning—and is nurtured from the outside in, with the expressions and experiences that derive from this quest. Fulfilling the latter echoes deference to the legal obligations that derive from the legal framework dedicated to protect and promote the rights of everyone. POZE reflects the paradigm’s core parameters (=Perspective, a holistic view on life; Optimization, through conscious influence on the dimensions that shape living; Zeniths, the pursuit of one’s best self; and Exposure, to reality as it is). The noun ‘Poze’ translates as ‘inner peace’ in Haitian Creole where the approach that is presented in this chapter was prototyped in 2017. The counterpart of POZE is ezop (=envision, the world that can be; zoom in on your role in it; orchestrate your resources with those of others; participate in life, fully) a hybrid space for like-hearted thinkers and doers to connect and take action. Following the present Introduction, the next section offers a brief overview of the POZE paradigm Sect. 10.2. that underpins the propositions laid out subsequently. Building on the understanding of a twice four-dimensional experience that influences the individual and collective sphere, a selection of entry-points is played out to start change in each of the four collective dimensions (Sect. 10.3). The conclusion distils the implications for a way forward (Sect. 10.4).

10.2 POZE Nothing happens in a vacuum. This section outlines a paradigm that approaches human existence as a composition of twice four dimensions. These can be analyzed and their interplay not only understood but influenced towards optimization. Awareness of the mutual interplay of causes and consequences is central to the sustainable promotion of human rights and Social Justice.

180

Cornelia C. Walther

10.2.1 Collective Notions Each one of these principles is described in turn below, as the rest of this chapter is anchored in these inter-connected and mutually reinforcing mechanisms. Four universal principles underpin the present perspective: Connection—Everything is linked. Nothing exists in a vacuum; Change—Everything evolves, constantly. Nothing is permanent. Continuum—Everything is part of a something else. Nothing is strictly separated; Complementarity—Everything needs something else to be complete; may be its opposite; and Connection—Whatever happens in one dimension has direct or indirect consequences in the others, immediately or eventually. Globalization influences human behavior around the globe—from communication to consumption—and it is shaped by human behavior. This external connection mirrors the internal connectedness that influences what individuals are and become. The aspirations, emotions, thoughts and experiences of every person, which influence how they express themselves in their environment, is influenced by the four dimensions of their being-soul, heart, mind and body. Change—Evolution is inherent to Nature. Nothing ever remains as it was. Human beings, animals, plants, societies, and the Universe keep on changing. It is futile to seek permanence, to hold on to material assets as a guarantee for certain stages of life. Health, wealth, and relationships inexorably evolve over time. This principle of transformation is the only constant of existence. Continuum—Humans trying to describe and understand the natural world often pinpoint symmetry and the existence of “pairs”. However, the Universe is too complex for categories that (over-)simplify. “Nature does not dictate dualities, trinities, quarterings, or any ‘objective’ basis for human taxonomies” (Gould, 2003). Reality comes in many colors, that transition via gradients in between. Complementarity—Everything needs something else to be complete. Often, antipodes complete each other, while representing different stages of one and the same scale. What may appear as disconnected or even opposed is part of a continuous composition in which every particle represents a part of its apparent opposite—and makes it whole. Acknowledging and accepting complementarity opens the door to internal and external acceptance, alignment, and based on them the use of existing resources in ways that achieve the utmost added value for everyone and everything.

10.2.2 Individual Dimensions Human life is shaped by the interplay of twice four dimensions. Engaged in an ongoing spiral dynamic, from the center to the periphery and from the periphery inwards these dimensions continuously interact and influence each other. This

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

181

internal two-way interaction influences who and how an individual is and becomes, which impacts how they affect the environment—the communities, society and planet, that they are part of. These individual dimensions form the basic structure of the subsequent argumentation. Starting at the core of the human being the soul represents the essence of human experience. It embodies an individuals’ aspirations; which relay the desire for meaning in existence. Whatever a person feels, thinks and does, is rooted in this craving for purpose (Frankl, 1985). “The meaning of life consists in the fact that it makes no sense to say that life has no meaning” (Bohr, 1957). The second dimension are emotions. Schematically and metaphorically speaking, they are located in the heart. Determining how a person feels in a situation, they represent an essential component of the decision-making process (Sect.10.3). Some even argue that humans are not rational beings with emotions, but emotional beings with some rationality sprinkled in. (Tversky & Kahneman, 1982); others consider the entire mind/body dualism introduced by Rene Descartes, as an error because reasoning requires the guidance of emotions and feelings conveyed from the body (Damásio, 1994). The third dimension is the mind. Thoughts are the result of an intricate mixture of genetic disposition, education, beliefs, memories, upbringing and environment. They influence a person’s emotions and aspirations, physical experiences and behavior; whilst being influenced by these in return (Kahneman, 2011). The mind, which is determined by ‘hardware’ factors such as neurological pathways, hormones, bloodsupply, nutrition etc.; and by ‘software’ attributes deriving from past and present expressions and experiences, stands in constant connection with the other dimensions. The hermetic separation of mind and matter is discarded (Schnabel, 2013). Days in the present are not only influenced by the present-day persona and experience of an individual; they are affected by their past being, and influences who they evolve to become. This carries forward into the future, since what someone thinks and does leaves physical traces in the form of synaptic connections in the brain (Doidge, 2007). Software shapes hardware and hardware shapes software. The fourth dimension is the body, which is the outer membrane that connects and separates the internal and external realms. It represents the interface through which one experiences the outside environment and expresses oneself in it. What an individual physically does is influenced by their mental and physiological set-up, and it influences these factors in return (Doidge, 2007). Exteroceptive and interoceptive stimuli experienced through the body impact the way how one thinks and feels. Thus, even invisible factors such as the state of the microbiome, blood-sugar level, hormone balance, immune system etc. affect the perception of a situation. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Whatever happens at the center radiates out, like the ripple effects of a stone cast into the water (Fig. 10.1).

182

Cornelia C. Walther

Fig. 10.1 Spiral soul to body. Everything is connected, from the inside out and from the outside in. From the inside out—the ‘soul’ finds its expression in aspirations. These influence the heart, which is the source of emotions. How a person feels impacts their mind, which expresses thoughts. How and what one thinks impacts the person’s overall wellbeing, and behavior. From the outside in—the body is the interface between the inside and the outside. Experiences influence the mind and heart, or, thoughts and feelings; whereas the latter shape attitude and behavior in the outside world. (Source [Walther, 2020a])

10.2.3 Social Interplays The social interrelations that shape society echo the four dimensions that determine an individual. In this perspective the micro level refers, on the one hand, to the four-dimensional internal composition of a person; on the other hand, it denotes the role of the individual in society. Everyone simultaneously is at the same time part of various meso-entities, different types of communities and institutions, such as a family, church, workplace, organization, school, political party or club. These meso-entities function as an intermediary between the individual and the subsequent macro level. The latter encompasses the economic, political and cultural sphere that shapes the environment. Respectively and combined these three dimensions form part of the meta-dimension.1 The latter covers Nature and everything else in the Universe; including on the one hand supra-national organizations such as the United Nations due to their global mandate to protect and promote peace and prosperity; and on the other hand, multinational corporations such as the MAANG [= previously referred to as FAANG, or the stocks of the five most popular and bestperforming American technology companies: Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet (formerly known as Google), due to their global ambition for profitable markets (Fig. 10.2)]. 1

The meta dimension also includes supranational institutions such as the United Nations due to their global mandate.

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

183

Fig. 10.2 Spiral micro to meta. Everything is connected, from the inside out and from the outside in. Individuals represent the micro dimension of a multi-dimensional dynamic that continuously evolves. They form, shape and experience the meso level which results from the communities they are part of, voluntarily or biologically, directly or indirectly. The contours of economic, political, cultural systems form the macro level. Micro, meso and macro dimensions operate as part of a meta system. Within a seamless continuum one dimension is influenced by the others and influences them in return. (Source [Walther, 2020b])

Translating the theoretical catalogue of human rights into practice, involves all of these levels. Translating human rights to reality entails more than passively abiding by the Law. It requires individual and collective commitment to the purpose that underpins the regulations in place, to safeguard and promote human dignity, and the opportunity for every individual to fulfill their potential. Genuine social transformation is anchored in individual behavior change. All major social shifts in history did start with the intention of an individual, the ideas that grew from it, and the action they manifested in. Organizations and communities can exceed the sum of those who constitute them—if the magic of complementarity amongst all constituents is nurtured. Institutions are organic entities that rise and die with their components. A perspective shift from ‘me’ to ‘us’, from personal interest to the common good, has multiple benefits. That shift could be accelerated by technology. Technology is reshaping how humans perceive and interact with each other. It changes how they work, shop, eat and socialize. These behavioral changes affect the environment that social (in)justice takes place in. Though it has always been the case, humanity’s technological prowess is making it ever more pervasive, and subtle. At first sight it may appear that the internet is a free, borderless space that is open to everyone. Yet not everyone is on it. Presently 66.2 percent of the world’s population has access to the internet. (BroadbandSearch, 2022). Closer inspection reveals the barriers that derive on the one hand from hardware aspects such as device availability, connectivity and cost; e.g., two-thirds of the world’s school-age children do not have an internet connection in their homes. Although 85 percent of the world’s population lives in areas covered by 4G, not everyone is are online. Ultimately cost,

184

Cornelia C. Walther

not coverage, is the critical barrier to connectivity (Halloran, 2021). In low-income countries, home to 650 million people, mobile broadband is 18 times more expensive than in developed countries, as a proportion of average income (ITU, 2020). The other barrier derives from ‘human software’ such as the level of education and the ability to use technology. ‘Progress’ can thus help and hinder social justice and inclusion. It is delusional to expect tools such as Artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver in line with values that those who design, deliver and deploy these instruments did not embrace. The direction that humans take with the assets at their disposition, individually and collectively, depends on intentions. The universal set-up of humans and of the societies they evolve in is both helpful and challenging when it comes to inducing a new direction. Since everything is connected and continuously changing, everything matters, yet nothing does move the needle by itself. Respectively and together the twice four dimensions of being and becoming influence the present and deriving from it the future.

10.2.4 Reciprocity—The Reverse of Respected Rights, Manifest as Solidarity The term Solidarity refers to the awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. Looking at the ties in a society that bind people together as one, it is included in all major religions and closely related to the Golden Rule (Flew, 1979). It has found entry in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and is mentioned in the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. Types of social solidarity correlate with types of society. In a society exhibiting mechanical solidarity, its cohesion and integration comes from the homogeneity of individuals— people feel connected through similar work, educational and religious training, and lifestyle. Mechanical solidarity normally operates in “traditional” and small-scale societies. In simpler societies (e.g., tribal), solidarity is usually based on kinship ties of familial networks. Organic solidarity comes from the interdependence that arises from specialization of work and the complementarities between people—a development which occurs in “modern” and “industrial” societies (Thijssen, 2012). For Peter Kropotkin solidarity is essential for mutual aid does not result from the expectation of reward, but rather from instinctive feelings of solidarity (Kropotkin, 1998). The ethical imperative of solidarity, also referred to as reciprocity has been recognized and reflected in cultures for centuries. Basically it states that one should do to others what one desires for oneself and refrain from doing to them what one does not want to experience oneself. In one way or another it has been part of cultures and religions across continents and centuries; manifesting as solidarity with those in need. It is anchored in a combination of compassion (heart) with an understanding of context (mind) and an aspiration to meaning beyond the self (soul). Understanding

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

185

one’s own potential (mind) whilst adopting a generous attitude towards oneself and others (heart) naturally manifests as courageous kindness, or a type of interaction that is not ruled by social convention but humane bonding (body). The shift from aspiring to values towards manifesting them gradually leads individuals towards completion (soul). That process from the internal realization to external manifestation to internal fulfillment is part of humanity’s shared ‘moral blueprint’ (Haidt, 2006). Crosscultural studies have shown that five human values come from a common pool innate in human nature: harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, in-group/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity (Haidt, 2006). Differently said, universally shared values are the cornerstone of our respective belief systems. In turn these underpin our short-term desires and longer-term aspirations, whether we are aware of it or not. Acknowledging, accepting, appreciating and addressing this inbuilt affinity towards solidarity has benefits for all parties involved. A perspective of homo homini lupus est (Latin for ‘man is wolf to man’) has served for centuries as an unspoken justification for ego-centric behavior. Yet, it is invalid. An attitude of homo homini lux est (Latin for ‘man is light to man’) lies at the core of human evolution. At first cooperation may appear to go against our ingrained instinct of purveying first to our own needs. However, cooperation, and deriving from it the intuition to express solidarity towards those in need, is part of the DNA of mammals in both the human and animal kingdom. Combined with the ability to feel, think and talk it is the principal reason why humanity has evolved thus far (Nowak & Highfield, 2011). Solidarity is a Win–Win, therefore “compassion is a question of human survival” (Dalai Lama, 1990).. Solidarity results when empathy, i.e. feeling for (passive) translates to compassion, i.e. feeling with, and manifests in action for (active). This transition matters for both the giver and the receiver of the benevolent act. Whereas empathy can become debilitating, paralyzing those who witness suffering rather than motivating them to take action for those who suffer (Well, 2017), compassion empowers. Empathy may be uncomfortable and troublesome due to cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1962), if no action is taken to materialize the intuitive inclination to help (Singer & Klimecki, 2014). The alignment of internalized values and externalized behavior lead to personal and social harmony. Individuals who act with the genuine intention to promote the wellbeing of others benefit in four direct and four indirect ways [For a detailed outline of the win–win–win–win effect and its scientific underpinnings please see (Walther, 2020a, 2020c)}. Some Interesting background readings in this context include the following: on the link between emotion, thought and action (Lehrer, 2010), on our (ir)rational thought process and on the impact that short and long-term behavior changes have on society (Bicchieri, 2017); and regarding the connection between behavior and brain-structure (Doidge, 2007): Direct benefits. Win-1—Acting in line with their personal values, and the inherent human aspiration of being a ‘good person’, helps to cultivate a positive self-image, which is an essential part of personal confidence and inner coherence (soul). The very act of giving back to the community boosts a person’s happiness, health, and sense of physical well-being (Plante, 2012).

186

Cornelia C. Walther

Win-2—Helping others leads to the emission of endorphins (body); this hormone is connected to the subjective feeling of happiness (heart) (Golemann, 1998); Win-3—Experiencing how the receiver benefits enhances the positive experience of those who had taken action for the person, because they comprehend the direct link between their own action and the influence it has on others (mind) (Gordon, 2009). Win-4—Contributing to an overall atmosphere of inclusiveness and social justice in the meso and macro environment that they are part of benefits those who do so, because the overall context improves. Within institutions the accumulation such behavior gradually affects the organizational culture for the better. Both aspects ameliorate the quality of life experienced by all (body) (Golemann, 1998). Indirect benefits. Win-5—When people act with kindness the way in which they are perceived by others changes. If that type of behavior is repeated over time it nurtures trust and appreciation among peers, friends and acquaintances. Win-6—New behavior patterns create new synaptic connections in the brain. When the new behavior is repeated over time these connections strengthen; gradually rendering the behavior easier. Thus, what initially entailed conscious effort eventually becomes natural; whilst still yielding the aforementioned benefits for everyone involved (Doidge, 2007). Win-7—Bystanders who observe the act of kindness not only find their own mood enhanced, they are inspired to echo the pro-social behavior, which benefits themselves and other people in their own environment. Beyond benefits for the one who acts and the one who is acted for, others who witness altruistic acts experience renewed hope, appeasement, and the desire to take similar action (Ramey, 2016). Win-8—The snowball effect of a pay-it-forward dynamic is triggered, which impacts Society positively (and eventually the person who offered the ‘seed kindness’). From such an expanding attitude of kindness and care among individuals, society overall benefits as the occurrence and acceptability of inequality and deprivation shrink (Pickett & Wilkinson, 2009). The question for those who seek to promote social justice is to nudge people from the (theoretical) aspiration to values (soul) towards understanding their rational justification (mind) to feeling the wish to translate theory to practice (heart) to get up and involved (body). Whether individually or collectively, it is in everyone’s interest to acknowledge and actively address the rights of others, and act in line with the original intention of safeguarding everyone’s wellbeing and dignity. On an intellectual level the aforementioned benefits are easy to grasp and the rational liaison between input versus output appears straightforward. Yet it is a far stretch from the awareness of facts to desire of action, to actual commitment, and furthermore action. Putting this along a ‘Scale of Influence’ (next section) individuals can start a new dynamic by influencing others towards a shift in attitude and ultimately action (Walther, 2021b). It supports the existence of a shared responsibility for the creation of a social setting that is conducive to the quality of life, and social participation of everyone.

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

187

10.2.5 Planting the Seeds of Social Justice for Children Individual behavior generates collective dynamics which reverse or confirm social norms, that help or hinder social justice. Conversely, individual behavior is influenced and fueled by these social norms (Bicchieri, 2017). Taking this logic to a larger scale offers a way forward to design, trigger and nurture a shift of behavior among a critical mass of people. From the commonly prevailing attitude of a bystander perspective where social injustice is witnessed and condoned, citizens are elicited to care enough that they take action to not only stop active human rights violations, but to pro-actively intervene in favor of those who suffer from chronic manifestations of inequality, such as poverty (Fig. 5). Starting with selected influencers entire social networks can thus be ‘contaminated’ with a pro-social attitude that manifests as courageous kindness. Society is an organic kaleidoscope that derives from human behavior; both passive and active. Thus, social justice requires a holistic, 360-degree approach, that addresses the individual, community, social and planetary level in a comprehensive manner that nurtures complementarity. Every new generation is growing up based on the foundations built by the previous ones. Therefore, building a society that offers the best possible point of departure for a child, should ideally start before birth. Social injustice affects the whole of society, and its causes and consequences affect children from womb to grave (Soleimanpour et al., 2017). Palliating the consequences of the detrimental chain of deprivation and discrimination that may derive from a child’s immediate environment, robbing it from the opportunity to thrive, involves those whom the child relies on directly, the caregiver, and indirectly via the communities and countries they evolve in. Nurturing a social climate of justice begins with understanding the root cause of its opposite: social injustice. While the immediate cause is the behavior of citizens, the underlying cause is the attitude of these individuals as the precursor of action that perpetrates social equality and marginalization. Drawing on the logic above, changes in behavior among those who trigger injustice benefits themselves and others. Because their inner state of mind, and deriving their behavior, is at the same time cause and consequence of the stress that they experience personally, and it creates fertile ground for social discord. Change begins from the inside out, from aspiration to feeling via understanding to action. It is nurtured from the outside in when fresh behavior revolutions acquired habits of perception. Engaging in new activities, interacting with a diverse range of people and experimenting with unfamiliar ways of getting things done reverses the inside-out sequence (Ibarra, 2015). New behavior patterns can begin with actions that are performed consciously, even if the underpinning motivation is not intuitive. Gradually the resulting experiences lead to new clusters of attitude and action; being anchored in synaptic connections they eventually turn into new habit patterns. (Doidge, 2007).

188

Cornelia C. Walther

10.3 Implications and a Way Forward Nothing happens in a vacuum. Not only are individuals and institutions, communities and countries intrinsically connected. The past influences the present, hereby laying the foundation of the future. Today’s rights abuses were initially enabled by the attitude of those who accepted in the past, and are nurtured by present citizens. The implications of the status quo are felt by many today, and will impact billions more tomorrow. Too often children are the first to suffer the consequences of social injustice; which jeopardizes their ability to identify and fulfill their inherent potential, and to participate by sharing it within in society. COVID is only the latest reminder that “the management of social issues is subject to historical contingency and strategic re-articulation; and “the risk of regress” (Minujin & Grondona, 2013). The pandemic and measures taken to tackle it impacted everyone, whilst often exacerbating existing inequalities and patterns of abuse (Amnesty International, 2021). “2020 taught us, yet again, lessons that we ignore at the peril of generations to come: the interdependence of the human family; the universality of what “we, the peoples” require of governance in times of crisis, and just how indivisible is our own future from the future we are creating for our planet. It taught us again the essence, in other words, of human rights. The question that remains to be answered is: will we be bold enough to see what must be done and courageous enough to get on and do it, at scale and at pace?” (Agnès Callamard, AI Secretary General, April 2021). A holistic perspective of the sum and its parts is needed for timely progress. The use of systemic thinking to shape social solutions is not new. According to Bertanlaffy the notion of general systems theory goes as far back as the pre-Socratic philosophers, and evolved throughout the ages through different philosophic entities until it was eventually formally structured in the early 1900s (Bertalanffy, 1972). Often considered as the panacea of all woes, economic growth has been on the radar of politicians, economists, researchers and practitioners similarly long but it is not the solution for change, certainly not for social change promoting social justice. Because growth is seldom shared (Vandemoortele, 2002); and in the absence of inclusive access to the results of expanded material assets, inequality expands; which in turn affects growth (Causa et al., 2014). Indeed, income inequality affects well-being in all areas of life and future opportunities and there is increasing evidence that greater inequality hinders the overall rate of growth (OECD, 2015). Everything is connected and constantly evolving. Progress towards the fulfillment of each respective part depends on the whole that it is part of, and contributes to it. Thereby investing in every child’s potential is an investment in the potential of the society which it is part of. Conversely, systematic investments in society as a whole in the perspective of a shared environment that is conducive for the fulfillment of all parts, benefits the whole and each member. Already in the 1800s Dutch polymath Daniel Bernoulli attempted to devise an equation to make the “perfect” choice under conditions of uncertainty. “The expected value of any of our actions—that is, the goodness that we can count on getting—is the

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

189

product of two simple things: the odds that this action will allow us to gain something, and the value of that gain to us” (Gilbert, 2005). And that’s where the problems start. Because an individual’s inner valuation parameters change over time. What seemed better before appears as worse from an ex-post perspective; biases come to play, such as reference to the facts that are the most available in our mind (but which are not necessarily the most relevant to the question) render certain expected outcomes more likely than others etc. As seen earlier—human beings are not primordially rational decision-makers; they are not equipped to maximize their choice potential, because their ability to absorb information about the options at hand (a) and ranking these options accordingly from least to most beneficial (b) are limited, and biased. And even IF humans had full rationality—which is not the case, it would not be possible to optimize outcomes because the objective itself is a moving target (Simon, 1976). There is no one single Zenith. A holistic understanding of the existing interplays may not fully compensate such inbuilt weaknesses, yet it can lead to major strides towards the next Zenith of humanity. A Zenith is the strongest or most successful period of a given time. Technically speaking it is the highest point reached in the sky by the sun, moon, etc. The Nadir is the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer (Merriam Webster, 2022). Deriving from Arabic ‘Zenith’ translated originally as ‘the line above the head’. Thus, as the observer moves, the line shifts (Merriam Webster, 2022). Both, zenith and nadir, appear as absolute points only in relation to a certain perspective. They are moving targets (Fig. 10.4). An evolution that takes society from one zenith to the next is just one possible scenario; it entails transitions via the corresponding nadirs. Similarly, ‘Optimization’ is work in progress. Once it (seems) to be achieved, new factors have entered the equation; what appeared as ‘perfect’ from a past perspective turns out to be a transitory stage on the road towards something else (Fig. 10.3). Time spent in one stage, or its opposite, or anything in between varies, involving multiple factors that are beyond human influence. Existence is not linear, and dynamics that mirror ‘quantum physical jumps’ (Zukav, 1980) are possible. Yet, there are features that can be systematically addressed, and influenced towards optimization in the understanding of the causes and consequences that relate to them. As long as the universe continues to exist, and humans are part of it, humanity has the potential to worsen or improve. In an unequal society everyone, including those on top of the social food-chain, are worse off in terms of quality of life (Picket & Wilkinson, 2009). Furthermore, inequality as experienced by the well-off parties of that society leads to an increase of competition, and a steady decline of emotional intelligence; which makes them even less inclined to share what is theirs (Schmalor & Heine, 2021). Thus, more growth in the current circumstances increases the resources at the top, further deepening the prevailing unwillingness whilst expanding the gap that separates haves and have nots. The un-conscious emotional reactions in that dynamic must be understood to systematically address not only the connection that nurtures the link between emotion, thought and behavior; but the mutual interplay between the micro, meso, macro and meta spheres of life.

190

Cornelia C. Walther

Fig. 10.3 Zenith versus nadir. Following a spiral dynamic from the inside towards the periphery life is moving towards a point X, which appears in the perspective of the experiencing individual as the ZENITH of human understanding. This apparent culmination is a mobile target. Once reached it is already at the onset of being surpassed. Regressing seemingly as the experiencing being moves towards an unprecedented low, that is being followed by a new high that follows the previous trajectory yet surpasses it. The ‘line above the head’ is always higher than the line of sight. (Source [Walther, 2021a])

Fig. 10.4 Scale of influence. Genuine influence involves the 4 dimensions of the human being. Influence arises from individuals who (1) Inspire purpose—because their own aspirations and actions are aligned; (2) Induce feelings—because their audience starts to relate to the issue at the emotional level which is needed to trigger the shift from acknowledgement to action; (3) Intrigue interest—because now the curious mind wants to learn and understand better; and (4) ignite behavior change—because physical action reflects the transition from inner to outer realm. Sustainable influence requires inspiration which ensues when the aspiration for meaning is touched in a human being. This intensity is conditioned by inner alignment, of aspiration and action; words and works. It is an inside-out/outside-in dynamic that mutually propels itself. (Source [Walther, 2021a])

The perspective that all human beings are different and yet the same, is the starting point for a gradual optimization of resources. In its aim to promote a holistic viewpoint of the whole and the interferences that determine it, POZE is similar to a wide range of disciplines from psychology to evolutionary economics over to quantum mechanics. “In our description of nature, the purpose is not to disclose the real essence of the phenomena but only to track down, as far as possible, relations between the

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

191

manifold aspects of our experience” (Bohr, 1957). The following paragraphs offer two ways forward towards optimization; bringing out the best of each dimension, and the interplays that connect it to the others.

10.4 Influencing Individual Influence From aspiration over feeling to understanding that manifests in action for social change, each stage of the decision-making process can be influenced systematically in a holistic understanding of the mutual interplay within and between all dimension. The power of choice lies at the core of human nature. Realizing it internally is necessary to unleash the inherent potential that every person has to make choices that benefit others, and society. The past cannot be undone, but the present shapes the future. Children grow up with models, these may be positive or in line with the selfish status quo. A study of altruism found that children who have compassionate parents tend to be more altruistic (Oliner & Oliner, 1988). Children securely attached to their parents tend to be sympathetic to their peers (Waters et al., 2004). In contrast, abusive parents who resort to physical violence have less empathetic children (Main & George, 1979); finally, children whose parents use inductive corrections that seek understanding rather than punishment are more emphatic (Eisenberg et al., 2010). When they encounter during their formative years role models, whose values and behavior are aligned, children internalize the organic correlation that links personal aspirations and civic responsibilities, or, personal wellbeing and collective wellbeing. They grow up with the natural understanding that personal wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of others (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009), and that it derives from acting to the benefit of others (Makransky, 2012). To induce this dynamic the shift must start at the micro level, with individual behaviors in the child’s immediate and wider environment. Change starts small to radiate out. The decision-making process itself offers herein entry point to address the quagmire of desires, beliefs and feelings that eventually manifest as behavior. Based on a finetuned understanding of the underpinning interplay of the multiple dimensions at stake the Scale of Influence maps out the different stages along which the target audience gravitates, whilst bringing to light interventions for moving to the next stage. Figure 5 Simply spoken, individuals move from the aspiration to values (soul), via the desire for their manifestation (heart) over to rational understanding (mind), altogether this transition may ultimately manifest in action (body). Mirroring this dynamic, Influence for Impact (i4i) is a methodology that allows social organizations to address the four stages in a holistic manner whereby one component organically lays the ground for the next. Starting with inspiration for a social cause (soul), it induces in the target audience the desire to get involved (heart), intriguing them to learn more (mind) and ultimately ignites the shift from aspiration to action (body) (Fig. 10.4).

192

Cornelia C. Walther

Influence for Impact (i4i) identifies and addresses aspirations, emotions, thoughts, and sensations to systematically induce desire and readiness for change among individuals and the wider public. It creates a type of communication that guides audiences through the process of understanding a situation to having a personalized feeling about the issue at hand to caring enough about this matter to act and change the status quo. Differently said Influence for Impact applies the POZE logic by nudging people to step out of their comfort zone, whilst numbing the inclination to inertia it nurtures new, pro-social behavior patterns. With repetition over time these gradually result in new social norms. This dynamic maybe hampered or hindered by technology.

10.5 Aspirational Algorithms Technology is neutral. Its influence depends on those who design and use it. The meta level refers to supra-national dynamics. As one stream (amongst many others) we look here at technology which increasingly influences the life of individuals. It will be examined both in its current version as a tool to facilitate and accelerate human life; and a consciously configured pro-social version of it. The impact of tools depends on the aspirations of those who envision, produce and use it. Standard Artificial intelligence (AI) like the one currently used can address the constraints that derive from the limited human capacity to solve a difficult problem. Thus, it may promote enhanced, more participatory, and effective policy and programming. Framed accordingly, neutral technology might even compensate for the caveats of human bias of those who use it, generating insights regarding the root causes of problems and the likely effects of possible solutions. Further and beyond, if one shapes and uses technology with the intention of positive consequences for the whole of humanity, the outcomes will be colored by a humane backdrop, rather than the common commercial goal-set. Humane technology is determined by accountability in each dimension of the micro-meso-macro-meta continuum (m4-matrix): At the micro-level the (perceived) desire of users (in) directly influences which products are designed and taken to scale. At the meso-level corporations launch new products which fashion new cravings amid users, who adopt these products without awareness of their own dependency. At the macro-level sits the institutional obligations to rule the two aforementioned constituents via responsible legal frameworks that prevent abuse and promote inclusive social standards. Finally at the meta-level supra-national entities must step up to their potential of addressing the causes and consequences of globalized, all-pervasive arenas such as technological ‘progress.’ A holistic understanding of the twice four dimensions is today more essential than ever as assets such as modern means of transport and the internet make physical borders increasingly obsolete. Yet even in today’s hyper-connected, rapidly changing, and ever more technology savvy society individual aspirations are the trigger that moves the scale. The likelihood of pro-social results increases drastically when the underpinning human

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

193

aspiration is anchored in the quest for social justice, and an attitude of generosity, compassion, honesty and courage. Society can be configured to bring out the best of and for every party. But that will not happen by accident, nor should it be a default definition of reality that is designed by in a unilateral disconcerted top-down way. The (unfulfilled) potential of technology is locked by the aspiration to meaning of the individuals who shape and use it alike. The ambitions of meso and macro players must be steered by a critical mass of conscious citizens who care about social justice and the children of today and tomorrow. GIGO (“garbage in, garbage out”—Fuechsel in TechTarget) is a concept common to computer science and mathematics: the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input. For example, if a mathematical equation is improperly stated, the answer is unlikely to be correct. Similarly, if incorrect data is input to a program, the output is unlikely to be informative (TechTarget, 2022). In many ways this holds true in other areas of life. Aspiration creates attitude, which colors emotions that result in thoughts and ultimately manifest as action. Anchored in this logic Aspirational Algorithms (AA) are a type of technology that is designed with an attitude of generosity, compassion, honesty and courage (Walther, 2021a). They do not replace human effort but can facilitate progress towards the state that appears based on current knowledge as the next zenith of humankind. Whether dystopia, or equitable expansion, the impact of technology depends on designers and users. The social shifts that are required to move the world from injustice to inclusive fairness include, but are not limited to conscious interpersonal relationships, indiscriminatory respect of all rights for all people and, equal access to natural and industrial resources, knowledge and services. A transition from the status quo to the desired future begins with the human aspiration for change, moves via neutral technology towards intentionally configured Aspirational Algorithms that are conducive to a world for everyone. Herein the challenge is to design a system that (1) Asks the right questions; (2) Deciphers the resulting information to come up with ambitious, creative yet pragmatic answers; (3) Validates the resulting outputs based on human values; and (4) Facilitates the process from ideation via planning to implementation and monitoring. It is designed to systematically nurture the best self of its human users. Four basic building blocks represent the system’s foundation, which may be expanded based on local context: 1. Values, starting with four core values—Generosity, Compassion, Honesty, Courage. 2. Mindset, including four basic mental parameters: a. b. c. d.

Purpose that transcends personal interest; Optimism for the future; Zeal to achieve the best outcomes for humanity; Exploration of opportunities with the ambition to move beyond forgone conclusions.

3. Circumstances, covering both material and immaterial factors in terms of a. Risks of (in) action;

194

Cornelia C. Walther

b. Rights at stake; c. Resources available/needed; d. Responsibilities of direct and indirect stakeholders. 4. Players, including the main social constituents whose attitudes and actions influence the outcomes, such as governmental entities, academia, corporations, nonprofits, international organizations (e.g., United Nations, World Bank), artists and media. Drawing on vast quantities of information, Big Data may serve to identify gaps and connections. To asses and analyze circumstances and players technology is useful; it may however not compensate for lack of the remaining components, aspiration and mindset, which must be present, at least in a nascent stage, amid designers and users. Benefitting from the logic of Deep learning (Chassagnon et al., 2020) Aspirational Algorithms evolve with human users; yet while rising with them it prevents them from regressing. By itself technology will not save humanity from the social injustice that is tightening its grip. To be beneficial to humankind both, technology and the regulations to frame it, must reflect an aspiration to serve the common good and the values that underpin it. Technology may merely maintain or support solutions (or problems) that were initiated by humankind. The future is uncertain, yet two choices are at everyone’s disposition—the choice of purpose in a vision of shared humanity. And, in a reverse-engineering process, the choice of a coherent logic regarding one’s own attitudes and actions in the direction of realizing that vision (Walther, 2021b). When both, vision and action are pursued with consideration to the causes and consequences that derive from the twice four dimensions the chance of progress towards the next Zenith increase.

10.6 Conclusion Whatever happens in one dimension has repercussions within and upon the others. Immediately and eventually, directly and indirectly. Acknowledging and accepting this set-up is a choice. Making it reframes the challenges at stake, which opens up the opportunity of further choices. One can either choose to seek modifications in a restrictive manner, focusing on one dimension while leaving aside the others, or put the panoply of pieces into a holistic vision which systematically nurtures synergy at the benefit of all components. Interplays occur anyhow. The question here is whether one leaves inputs and outcomes of this constellations to chance, or consciously chooses to influence them. Analyzing, appreciating, and methodically addressing the twice four dimensions that shape social reality is complex, yet possible. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights [UDHR] 1948, Article 1). Yet de facto access to all rights for all people has never been a reality. The gap that separates paper from practice

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

195

has been gaping for decades. Leaving aside the US, all countries have ratified the CRC; still a large gap separates theory from practice for billions of children around the world. Relying on systems that were conceived in a fragmented perspective, without a 360-degree understanding of their causes and consequences is the human default; it is a comfortable, and unsustainable approach. The traditional meso and macro systems are no longer ready to cope. Human rights abuses that were once condoned rise to the surface and worsen the overall outlook of those who were worst off from the start. Changing the status quo requires a pragmatic shift of aspiration and action, which systematically addresses dynamics that are at play at the individual, community, country and planetary level, whilst consciously aiming to optimize the mutual interplay between these dimensions. This requires choices. Social justice is not an abstract concept to be endeavored yet never reached. It is nurtured through small shifts every day everywhere. The prevailing climate of social injustice derives from an outdated comprehension of wellbeing. IF happiness depends on material assets, its pursuit becomes an either-or equation. Since material resources are limited, their access must then necessarily be restricted; consequently, what one person disposes of, others must be deprived of. A holistic perspective on the multidimensional interplay expands the scope reframing the equation from either-or to and. The sharing of assets turns from a charitable or forced sacrifice to a mutually beneficial investment. The time for action is now.

References Amnesty International. (2021). Report 2020/21. Index number: POL 10/3202/2021. Bertalanffy, v. L. (1972). The history and status of general systems theory. Academy of Management Journal, 15(4), 407–426. Bicchieri, C. (2017). Norms in the wild: How to diagnose, measure, and change social norms. Oxford University Press. Bohr, N. (1957). Atomic physics and human knowledge in atomic theory and the description of nature. Cambridge University Press. Causa, O., A. de Serres., & Ruiz, N. (2014). Can Pro-Growth Policies Lift All Boats? An Analysis Based on Household Income Data, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 1180. Chassagnon, G., Vakalopolou, M., Paragios, N., & Revel, M. P. (2020). Deep learning: Definition and perspectives for thoracic imaging. European Radiology, 30, 2021–2030. https://doi.org/10. 1007/s00330-019-06564-3 Dalai Lama, H. H. (1990). Policy of kindness: An anthology of writings by and about the Dalai Lama. Shambhala. p. 112. Damásio, A. (1994). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. putnam. ISBN 0–399–13894–3 Doidge, N. (2007). The brain that changes itself: Stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science. Viking Press. Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R, & Hoffman, M. (2012). Interaction of affect and cognition in empathy. Festinger, L. (1962). Cognitive dissonance. Scientific American, 207(4), 93–107. Flew, A. (Ed.). (1979). The golden rule (p. 134). Pan Books in association with The MacMillan Press. p. Frankl, V. E. (1985). Man’s search for meaning. Simon and Schuster. Gilbert, D. (2005). Why we make bad decisions. TED. https://rb.gy/g9qdez

196

Cornelia C. Walther

Golemann, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. Bloomsbury Paperbacks. Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. Bantam Books. Gordon, J. (2009). Unstuck: Your guide to the seven-stage journey out of depression. Penguin Books. Reprint edition (May 26, 2009). Gordon, J. (2011). Unstuck: Your guide to the seven-stage journey out of depression. Hay House. Gould, S. J. (2003). Full house: The spread of excellence from Plato to Darwin. Harmony Books. Haidt, J. (2006). The moral roots of liberals and conservatives. TED. Retrieved (Aug 2020) https:// rb.gy/fep1gt Halloran, D. (2021). Take the 1 billion lives challenge to close the digital divide. Retrieved Jan 2022 at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/take-the-1-billion-lives-challenge-to-close-the-dig ital-divide-edison-alliance-inclusion-internet-connectivity/ Herminia, I. (2015). The outsight principle. Corporate Research Forum. International Telecommunications Union (ICU 2020). The cost of telecommunications in 2020. Retrieved January 2022 at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/publications/pri ces2020/ITU_A4AI_Price_Briefing_2020.pdf Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Penguin Books. Kropotkin, P. (1998). Mutual aid: A factor of evolution. Freedom Press. Lehrer, J. (2010). How we decide. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Main, M, & George,C. (1979). Social interactions of young abused Children: Approach, avoidance, and aggression. Makransky, J. (2012). Compassion in buddhist psychology. Chapter Four in compassion and wisdom in psychotherapy. Guilford Press. Minujin, A., & Grondona, A. (2013). Poverty, needs and rights: Definitions in dispute (No. 22 of Voces en el Fénix) Nowak, M., & Highfield, R. (2011). SuperCooperators: Altruism, evolution, and why we need each other to succeed. Martin Free Press. Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD). (2015). Inequality and inclusive growth: Policy tools to achieve balanced growth in g20 economies framework working group antalya. Oliner, S., & Oliner P. (1988). Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe. The Free Press. Plante, T. G. (2012). Helping others offers surprising benefits. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-theright-thing/201207/helpingothers-offers-surprising-benefits-0 Ramey, M. (2016). The influence of early school punishment and therapy/medication on social control experiences during young adulthood. Criminology. Soleimanpour, S., Geierstanger, S., & Brindis, C. D. (2017). Adverse childhood experiences and resilience: Addressing the unique needs of adolescents. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7), S108–S114. Schmalor, A; & Heine, S. J. (2021). Subjective economic inequality decreases emotional intelligence, especially for people of high social class. In Social psychological and personality science. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211024024 Schnabel, A. (2013). Antonio Damasio: Descarte’s Irrtum. In: K. Senge, R. Schützeichel (Eds)Hauptwerke der Emotionssoziologie . Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/ 978-3-531-93439-6_10 Singer, T., & Klimecki, O. M. (2014). Empathy and compassion. Current Biology, 24, 875–878. TechTarget. (GIGO) garbage in, garbage out. TechTarget Retrieved January 2022 from https://sea rchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/definition/garbage-in-garbage-out Thijssen, P. (2012). From mechanical to organic solidarity, and back: With honneth beyond durkheim. European Journal of Social Theory, 15, 454–470. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1982). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. In D. Kahneman, P. Slovic, & A. Tversky (Eds.), Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases (pp. 3–20). Cambridge University Press. Vandemoortele, J. (2002). Are we really reducing poverty? United Nations Program for Development Policy.

10 Social Justice—From Potential to Practice …

197

Walther, C. (2020a). Development, humanitarian action and social welfare: Social change from the inside out. Palgrave Macmillan. Walther, C. (2020b). Humanitarian work, social change and human behavior. Palgrave Macmillan. Walther, C. (2020c). Development and connection in the time of covid. Palgrave Macmillan. Walther, C. (2021a). Technology, human behavior and social change. Palgrave Macmillan. Walther, C. (2021b). Leadership for social change and development. Palgrave Macmillan. Waters, E., Wippman, J., & Sroufe, A. (2004). Attachment, positive affect, and competence in the peer group: Two studies in construct validation. Encyclopedia of human ecology, 1979 Well, T (2017). Compassion is better than empathy.Psychology Today . Retrieved from https://www. psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-clarity/201703/compassion-is-better-empathy Wilkinson, R. G., & Pickett, K. (2009). The spirit level: Why more equal societies almost always do better. Allen Lane. Zenith. Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zenith. Accessed 8 Jan. 2022 Zukav, G. (1980). The dancing Wu Li masters: An overview of the new physics. Bantam Books.

Cornelia C. Walther, Ph.D. She combines praxis and research. She worked for two decades with the United Nations in large scale emergencies in West Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. As coach, lecturer, and researcher, she collaborates with various universities worldwide. In 2017 she initiated the POZE dynamic in Haiti; which has since grown into a global network that includes like-minded thinkers and doers on all continents. Over the past years she published five books with Springer related to the POZE paradigm, related to organization optimization, systemic crises recovery, aspirational algorithm and inspirational leadership. Meet her online on https://www.linkedin.com/in/corneliawalther/ and explore POZE via https://www.poze.cc