At the Interface of Development Studies and Child Research: Rethinking the Participating Child

Development research and child research experience contingent global discourses on participation. While child research concentrates on the role of the child to participate as a way to empower self and local communities, recent development discourse focuses on building capacities and strategising to achieve social and economic improvement at different scales. However, in disempowered and poor contexts, the discourse of participation may be inadequate, even irrelevant, to gain in-depth understanding of what takes place on the ground and how children participate. Case examples from different Asian and African countries illustrate how participation may be embedded in local, cultural contexts, but also how participation may be embedded in external structural forces related to globalisation and geopolitics. The participation of children may be passive or active, and it may reflect children's vulnerability and how they, through their participation, may even be exposed to direct violation and fear. These forces will have to be deconstructed and acted upon and participation can be fully utilised as an enabling and capacitating force.