Roadblocks in Child Participation Practices in Academia and Civil Society

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses the potential and pitfalls of children’s participation in academic and non-academic settings through a child participation project in Turkey by questioning various forms of childism from child and adult perspectives. We first and foremost acknowledge and emphasise the child’s position as a form of political resilience in a world where adult centrism has been the norm, regardless of differences in childhood experiences across cultures, social classes and age groups. Guided by this understanding, we engaged with two distinct fieldwork processes over the years and took steps toward achieving child participation at citizenship action level. In particular, we aimed to create a safe and open space for children from diverse backgrounds to come together, share their life issues, develop strategies to address their everyday problems and build a child-to-child participation network. However, we encountered several roadblocks to fully involving children in these processes. This article illustrates the perceptional and practical limitations we faced on the road that stem from competing dispositions held by children and stakeholders. To showcase the potential impact of our project, we highlight such obstacles as adultism among child participants, challenges of engaging academic research with stakeholders, and variations in motivation and interest among different social actors in the field of childhood. The obstacles are discussed with their implications in ways that they could be overcome.