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Em convênio :

Em convênio :. Young people’s political participation and threats to democracy Irene Rizzini PUC-Rio University The International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood – CIESPI University of Edinburgh, September 19 2019. Brazil. BASIC FACTS:

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Em convênio :

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  1. Em convênio :

  2. Young people’s political participation and threats to democracy Irene Rizzini PUC-Rio University The International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood – CIESPI University of Edinburgh, September 19 2019

  3. Brazil BASIC FACTS: • A country of 208 million people – over 60 million under 18 • High income inequality with huge implications for children's well-being • Currently suffering from severe economic, fiscal, and political crises • The new president-elected, an outspoken against human rights.

  4. Democracy in Brazil and its threats Colony of Portugal until 1822 Oligarchical and colonial history Dictatorship (1964-1984) PT progressive regime (2002-2017) Current far-right government (2018)

  5. Manifestação pelos direitos da infância e da juventude nos anos 1980. Crédito: Oficina de imagens e reprodução

  6. Threats to democracy Impact “Desmontes” - Deconstruction Recent democratic structures built for political participation Impact in young people’s lives

  7. Participation and children’s rights in Brazil • Federal law in Brazil, reflecting the post dictatorship discussions of freedom, provides for citizen involvement in policy making. One mechanism is Rights Councils which are mandated by law to protect children (Social protection, Education, Health etc). • The Brazilian legislation and policies incorporated space for political participation in decision making in Rights Councils at the city, state and federal levels. • The National Children’s Rights Council developed new protocols on youth having actual representation on the Councils (2013/2017 resolutions)

  8. International Research and Partnership Monitoring Child Participation within Child Protection International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) Ryerson University; Mcgill University & Canada International Institute for Child Rights and Development (Canada); PUC-Rio/CIESPI (Brazil) University of Edinburgh (Scotland) University of Cape Town (South Africa) Right to Play International (China).

  9. Concepts and theoretical approaches • Child participation • Participación ciudadana • Protagonismo • Political participation and public spaces • Children’s Rights – decolonial perspectives

  10. Child participation Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) – Article 12 Children and Young people: Right to be heard To participate in decisions that affect their lives Monitoring child participation: International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) Tisdall, Collins, Ruiz-Casares at al

  11. Participation in theory and practice • Participación ciudadana (Citizen participation)– Emphasis on young people’s social participation and engagement as citizens. • Protagonismo – Emphasis on young people’s place and role in society as proactive actors, having autonomy, a sense of agency. • Political participation and public spaces: Hannah Arendt’s notion on the political sphere and public spaces

  12. Public/political sphere (Arendt) Public/political sphere: place for encounter of human speech and action towards common sense Condition of active subjects: revealing what makes us singular/unique and allowing us to be included in the world (Arendt,1987:190).

  13. Decolonial approaches Decoloniality of power (Anibal Quijano) Epistemologias do Sul (Boaventura Santos) Can the subaltern speak? (Gayatri Spivak) Disilencing people (Olivia Rutazibwa) Dewesternizing History (Walter Mignolo) Decolonial Geopolitics (Enrique Dussel)

  14. Critical approaches on Human/Children’s Rights Questioning, descontructing and reconstructing Processes of knowledge production (North-South) “third world”, “underdeveloped” , etc Children’s Rights - Latin American critic Adultocêntrica Eurocentrica

  15. Young child Rights Councilors in Brazil • In one Brazilian city, Volta Redonda, the Children’s Rights Council has taken an early lead in youth involvement. • Study aims at understanding young people’s participation in the VR Children’s Rights Council. )

  16. ‘Protagonismo juvenil’ in Volta Redonda • Young people formed the Youth Forum of South Fluminense in Action (FJSFA) so that youth councilors could stay in frequent contact with other young people and hence represent their concerns. • We interviewed and are in touch with 15 young people who either are or were on the Council.

  17. The young councilors views of participation • Most of the young ex-counselors felt listened to, especially in comparison with before when they could only participate with the constant intervention of the Council president. • “This is already an achievement: the recognition of the legitimacy of our right to speak, our capacity for action and transformation. This is a victory.”

  18. What changed What changed/ what difference it made after they started to officially participate in the Council’s monthly meetings: The dynamics of the meetings Attitudes of both young people and adults changed “Generally when we first entered the Council our heads were low and we spoke softly. The first thing to change was our posture. We began to look up and in front. We lost our timidity little by little.”

  19. Young people’s activism: challenges Adult roles: barrier and support It was a consensus of all the young people that in order to be heard by adults they had to push themselves forward Adult support proved to be important (parents, teachers…) • “Our families might begin to think that we are becoming too independente... “ • “In public spaces, is the idea that children and youth don’t know anything, that this is not their space, and this impacts directly the welcome and attention they are given by adults.”

  20. Concluding thoughts Youth not only have the right to be heard, they can be politically very powerful. There are several examples: • The revitalization of the US gun control movement after the young people of Stoneman Douglas high school in Florida started to organize after the massacre where 17 students and staff were killed; • Greta Thunberg, 15 year Swedish old activist raising global awareness of the risks posed by global warming/climate change.  How to better promote and support meaningful and effective child and youth participation?

  21. Concluding remarks • The larger problems of Brazilian and indeed Latin American society that impact low-income children and youth so heavily will have to be solved by reformed governments at every level, with pressure from civil society orgs. After this last election, new strategies will have to be created; • The processes described above have, however, not only had successes but created new partnerships for resistance and change. As we say in Brazil: A luta continua!

  22. OBRIGADA!CIESPI/PUC-Rio, BrasilIrene Rizzini (Departamento de Serviço Social, PUC-Rio)Jana Tabak (Instituto de Relações Internacionais, PUC-Rio, IRI,CIESPI/PUC-Rio)Thaís de Carvalho e Eduarda Sampaio (CIESPI/PUC-Rio)http://www.ciespi.org.br/

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