Childhood as a Symbolic Space: Searching for Authentic Voices in the Era of Globalisation

The aim of this article is to discuss the close interplay between global discourses on children as citizens, notions of (a good) childhood at the national and local levels, and discourses on nationality and democracy. This dynamic relationship highlights on the one hand the significance of children as central social actors, and on the other hand how social constructions of children and childhood are closely intertwined with economic, cultural and political transformations in society. The discussion is empirically grounded in the analysis of participatory projects in two Nordic countries, initiated in the early 1990s, ‘Try Yourself’ in Norway, and ‘Children as Fellow Citizens’ in Denmark, in both of which the constitution of children as autonomous, authentic social actors is central. The main argument I present is that, to an increasing degree, childhood is constructed as a symbolic space reproducing symbolic values related to democracy, national identity, autonomy and authenticity. In this way, children are constituted as social participants, actively contributing to reproducing culture and national identities in new ways.