Children, War Toys and Militarization: Narrating a (un)safe Latin America

• In Event: “Domestic wars” in security affairs

Abstract

Especially in the 1990s, when concepts such as "Human Security", "New Wars" and "Responsibility to Protect" became central, children and young people emerge as a particularly vulnerable group in the international political agenda. Considering specifically the Latin American region, this paper moves beyond the idea of children as ‘objects’ of international protection, and focuses instead on the intersection between the militarization of childhood and war toys. At a time when militarism is increasingly imprinting on everyday practices in Latin America, children and toys have still been marginalized from the discussions in the field of International Politics. In this regard, this paper intends to complexify the reflections on the production of security in the region by adding the discussion on children not only as a group at risk, but also as (potential) risky subjects. Based on a historical approach, we analyze how the war toys industry has been developed and how it both articulates and is reproduced by the idea of a (un)safe Latin America. More specifically, we will be tackling the questions: What narratives about Latin America have shaped, and are shaped by the war toys? How can these toys be used as an educational tool and participate in the production of a universalized idea of childhood? And, how children make sense and participate in contemporary politics of security through these toys?

Author

• Jana Tabak, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)