Sorrisos infantis na luta pela terra: a participação das crianças na vida política da sociedade

Abstract

The participation of children in different spheres of society raises questions about their status as political subjects. Childhood in a context of struggles presents significant clues regarding to the political life children develop, working together with their social group in the search for the transformation of reality. The research accomplished with the children who are part of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) allows the observation of not only the actions of children in social movements, but also the specificities of a childlike political organization. Beginning from the contribution of Sociology of Childhood which considers children as a constituent part of the world who integrate a specific social reality, that relate to each other and to all the others who surround them, with whom they will elaborate meaning for their existence, direction for their actions, trying to understanding the social relation in which they are inserted, modifying them in their way and culture, we can investigate how children try to position themselves in the face of social problems they experience, how they perceive, and how they organize themselves in the struggle for their rights, among them, the right to organize themselves and fight for what they believe and defend. It’s becoming necessary, to understand the life’s environment of these children, an investigation about the situation in Brazil, its contradictions, history and debates which are made around its concept. The research was performed in two singular moments in 2017 in the State of Rio de Janeiro by the MST. The first moment was the visit to a municipal school situated in Assentamento Campo Alegre during an activity to prepare for the State Meeting; the second moment was the XX Encontro Estadual das Crianças Sem Terrinha itself. During the course of the research it was verified that the observed children and childhood were, in their way, directly linked to the political and economic life of society, participation which was boosted by their organization in social movements, which were necessary due to material and cultural issues life imposes on them. Observing other cases of political participation of children in society, we can consider they occur independently of general public opinion, conditioned by their concrete situation of life, as this is a determining factor of their demands and the legitimacy they achieve socially. Child participation is naturalized when it reinforces the behaviors established by the dominant ideology, although it is curbed when it carries within itself essential components for social transformation. Understanding this issue is fundamental to the debate about the legitimacy of child social participation in the decision-making spheres of our society.