Performance, Responsibility and Political Decision-Making: Child and Youth Participation in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments 17(1), 2007 Performance, Responsibility and Political Decision-Making: Child and Youth Participation in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Joachim Theis UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand Citation: Theis, Joachim (2007). “Performance, Responsibility and Political Decision-Making: Child and Youth Participation in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific.” Children, Youth and Environments 17(1): 1-13. Regional Context for Child and Youth Participation Close to one third of the world’s children and young people live in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The region is diverse in terms of languages, cultures, religions and political systems. The economies of many countries in East and Southeast Asia are growing rapidly, while other countries, especially those in the Pacific, are seeing very limited investments. Among the main factors that shape the context for child and youth participation in the region are the economic situation of a locality; the political system; social relationships, including gender relations and attitudes towards children; and the nature of the education system. The following paragraphs explore these contexts. China and Vietnam are states with restrictions on media freedom and political expression, limited space for civil society, and no independent human rights organizations (Young 2003). Both countries are paternalistic states that strongly emphasize the responsibilities of citizens towards the state. The state, represented by the government, in turn earns its legitimacy by providing political stability and the structural conditions for economic prosperity. This hierarchical and authoritarian relationship between state and citizen is mirrored in the relationships between parents and children and between teachers and students (Salazar-Volkmann 2005). As a result of rapid economic growth in Vietnam and China, young people’s participation in the labor market is generally high, compared to other parts of the world. Children are under pressure to acquire a good education in order to take full advantage of existing economic opportunities. Primary and secondary school students, especially those in urban areas, have limited free time to spend on social activities that are not directly relevant for passing their academic examinations. Levels of political activity and politicization among young people tend to be low. Performance, Responsibility and Political Decision-Making... 2 The globalizing economies in East Asia are creating demands for a new type of workforce. In order to capture new markets and to move beyond low-cost and low-tech jobs, the Chinese education system, for example, is moving away from rote learning and is beginning to encourage students to think critically and autonomously, and develop their creativity. This requires significant changes in the relationships between teachers and students and more room for students’ individual expression. The new Chinese education system supports some of the values underlying children’s participation, and to some extent this makes it easier to promote children’s expression and decision making in school and at home. West et al.’s article, “From Performance to Practice: Changing the Meaning of Child Participation in China” analyzes how children’s participation and children’s roles are changing in the context of the broader changes happening in China’s economy, social relations and education system. These political, social, economic and cultural forces provide the context for child and youth participation in China and Vietnam and in other countries with similar political and social characteristics. These are, of course, generalizations; there are wide variations between countries and significant differences within each country. Some of these factors support, while others hinder, child and youth participation. The articles in this issue of Children, Youth and Environments explore these topics in greater depth. The situation is very different in a country such as the Philippines, which has a multi-party democracy, press freedom, a diverse and vibrant civil society, and independent human rights institutions. Democratic spaces for political action and social activism are much greater there than in China or Vietnam. The Philippines is also offering some of the greatest opportunities for exploring and experimenting with children’s and young people’s participation in the region. (Cambodia is another country in the region where children’s participation has benefited from expanded democratic spaces.) Protacio-de Castro et al.’s “Walking the Road Together: Issues...