Lived citizenship in early childhood in a flood-prone area in Amazonian Peru

• In Event: Contesting State and Corporate Ideologies of Childhood

Abstract

Citizenship has been a key concept regarding inclusion or exclusion of minority groups through history (Lister, 2007; López, 1997; Moosa-Mitha, 2005; Tubino, 2008). Contributions from Latin American approaches (such as the feminist, environmental and cultural) led us to overpass the relation between citizenship and Nation State, and rethink it as a sociocultural concept rather than only a legal status. Theoretical and practical rethinking of traditional notions of citizenship offer elements to debate about the citizenship of some commonly excluded groups, such as women, indigenous people, and children. These debates provide contributions to the recognition of children as “citizens now,” instead of considering them as “citizens in the future.” Given the gaps between being a citizen (as a status) and acting as a citizen (Lister, 2007), there is an increasing tendency to research the lived citizenship (James, 2011; Liebel, 2008; Lister, 2007; Olsson, 2017) . Concerning children, it allows the researcher to understand the daily construction of children’s citizenship, contradictions and resistances (Larkins, 2014; Olsson, 2017) as well as the different kinds of children’s citizen expression (Larkins, 2014; Moosa-Mitha, 2005; Olsson, 2017).
I aim to present the findings of my Ph.D. research which seeks to explore lived citizenship in early childhood in a flood-prone area in Amazonian Peru. I will present how children negotiate their citizenship, particularly their rights, participation, responsibilities and, belonging. Furthermore, I will analyze how this process configures situations of inclusion or exclusion, within their closest surroundings (family and school), as well as in their neighborhood and community.

Author

• Karina V Padilla