Browsing by Subject "narrative analysis"

This thesis examines children’s citizenship in recent empirical research in the field of child-hood studies. The thesis will examine the questions, themes and theoretical approaches that have framed the studies of children’s citizenship. Childhood studies is a multidisciplinary field and the research concerning children’s citizenship is embedded within multifaceted social and political contexts. Children’s relationship with the citizenship is unsettled. Children are being given many rights, responsibilities and possibilities to participate but at the same time they are excluded from citizenship. Children’s place as becoming citizens has been persistent in societies where especially political citizenship remains a field fully open only for adults. This under-standing frames the recent research of children’s citizenship. The study data consists of 17 research articles that are examining children’s citizenship through empirical data. These articles were reviewed and analysed applying narrative analysis. The study data shows that children’s citizenship is constructed in social, political and historical contexts. Political and legislative structures are the basis of children’s social participation. In in-stitutionalised settings, children’s participation is enabled in participatory activities. These par-ticipatory settings facilitate children’s agency and advocacy but also demonstrate some re-strictions. The approaches of lived citizenship have opened new interpretations of the ways that children enact citizenship. The studied articles show that citizenship is a concept that illumi-nates the aspects of the relationship between children and adults and may generate some under-standing of ethical encounters. Examining the marginal positions of citizenship is helpful in discussing children’s place in society. Citizenship as a concept unfolds the different aspects of inclusion and exclusion in society.