De la participación al protagonismo infantil: propuestas para la acción [From Participation to Child Protagonism: Proposals for Action]
Alfageme Anavitarte, Erika and Cantos Vicent, Raquel and Martínez Muńoz, Marta (2003).
Madrid, Spain: Plataforma de Organizaciones de Infancia; 126 pages. $Free. ISBN 8468841692.
Since its ratification, the Convention on the Rights of the Child has become a basic document for all the professionals involved in the field of the social protection of children. As noted by the authors of this book, the innovation of this document is not in its Articles per se, but in its philosophy; the text proposes a major shift in the social representation of children, whom it does not define in terms of “problems” or “victims,” but as active social agents. This means that children not only have rights, but are also capable of striving themselves to achieve these rights wherever they are denied. Of course, this represents an important societal challenge that leads directly to the polemic question of the social participation of minors.
Today it is not infrequent to hear about children’s participation at different levels, but it is also true that more texts that establish the basis of this participation are needed. The point of view of this book is to go beyond the classical way of understanding participation to achieve a higher level of implication for children:protagonistic participation. The word protagonism has a Latin root not easy to translate into English, but it refers to the consideration of the child as an actor that plays the leading role and is actively involved in the praxis of its own rights (see page 45/2.4). In fact, the most solid contribution of the text is to denounce the social invisibility that has affected children for a very long time and excluded them from public life and adult decisions. As a result of the effort of the authors, the text is very useful not only for scientists but also for a wide group of professionals whose work has to do with childhood.
Thus, the profile of the reader of this book is wide and heterogeneous (although always adult). This fact makes the text very rich not only in theory but also in pragmatic terms As the title of the book—Proposals for Action—makes clear, it was conceived for practical application to everyday work. Part of the text (“B: Thinking...To Act,” pages 53-105) is oriented to show the reader different ways to approach the problem of children’s social participation. For example, the book suggests activities designed to analyze the image of children in the mass media, and ways to encourage children to collectively strive for their rights. This part of the text includes suggestions for designing projects from a children’s rights perspective as well as a very useful guide to using the Internet as a source of information.
These practical proposals are, at the same time, well-supported by deep theoretical work. In the first part of the text, which demonstrates the main theoretical arguments that support children’s right to participate in social life, we find a very clear exposition of the reasons to break with the traditional paradigm of considering minors as non-capable people. This explanation uses the words of the authors as well as original fragments of classical texts (mainly from the field of sociology of childhood) that have become inescapable bibliographic references for understanding the problem of children’s social status. The book offers answers to relevant questions such as: Why should childhood be considered a social phenomenon? What is participation? How are children socially represented?
Perhaps the text’s success is due to the variety of views that it contains, as mentioned above. This plurality is also reflected by the professional careers of the three authors, which involve very different frames for children’s social participation, including work with street children in Lima (Peru) and working for children’s rights in Madrid (Spain). The result of this plurality is a rich overview of different ways of understanding children’s participation. The only problem with the book is its brevity: only 120 pages, leaving the reader truly wanting more.
If a book should be judged not only by the final result but also by the ambition that the author showed when writing it, we can conclude that this one achieves a balance of both aspects. We should not forget that the text is not merely a guide to the social participation of children, but a serious approach to achieving a higher level of participation conceptualized as protagonism. In the book’s prologue, Alejandro Cussianovich asserts that a single instance of participation is not the same as having true participation of children in society as protagonism transcends mere participation. The book challenges us to give children the chance to have the role that they really deserve in matters that simultaneously them and adults.
Reviewer Information
Iván Rodríguez Pascual, Ph.D. is a sociologist and since 1996 has been an Associate Professor at Huelva University (Spain), as well as a member of the ISA (International Sociological Association) and its research committee 53 (Sociology of Childhood). His research focuses on the sociology of childhood, family and social change, social protection of children and new technologies of information and communication.