UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, 7th Annual International Postgraduate Conference

Inclusion Exclusion

16-18th February 2006

Friday 17 February 12:00 – 1:30: Panel E1: Social Exclusion

Maria Carmen Pantea (Babes Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca): ‘Working children in transitional economies: qualitative approaches on inequality and social exclusion’

Far from being an apolitical issue, in Romania, child labour is rarely addressed in the social arena and almost never in the academia. Many times political agendas are attached to the topic and its existence is often ignored, concealed or manipulated. The sociology of childhood itself undergoes a process of academic legitimisation, following similar attempts from US, United Kingdom and Germany. There is a tendency of establishing an academic corpus of knowledge with reference to childhood, but still, there is a critical lack of information and sociological research on childhood in the region.

In spite of a relative lack of official concern, child labour is an emerging phenomenon in Eastern European countries. A recent official survey estimates that out of Romania’s 5 millions children, 900 000 are involved in "economical activities". More than 60% of the 900 000 are doing activities in rural households other than their own. Approximately 300.000 children are working with a certain frequency in exchange of a payment.

According to global standards, children have the right to be protected from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous. According to the principles of cultural relativism, "childhood" is a social construct and thus defined differently by different cultures, societies, and states. Consequently, what may be "abusive" in a culture may be "tolerable" in another. As a result, there is a need for standards that are both universal and which reflect the diversity of childhood(s).

How is child labour constructed in economic, political, social and symbolic ways in contemporary Romania? How different cultural meanings of childhood(s) relate to child labour in Eastern Europe in general and in Romania in particular? How ethnicity, gender, religion, economic status and other ascriptive roles construct child labour? How different discourses on child labour shape the image of child labourers?

Which are the economic strategies of child labourers in between formal and informal economy? How their statuses as children, family members, employees and (sometimes) pupils, are negotiated? In which ways is child labour changing the power dynamics inside the family unit, as long as the child is not a "beneficiary" of the family subsidy, but rather a "contributor"? Which are the main reasons for working? Is the conservative belief that labour is a useful preparation for life, a relevant explanation? Or is child labour a temporary undesirable solution out of family poverty? How are child labourers and their parents envisioning their future, which is the place of education and how rational are their prospects?

The aim of the paper is to explore parents and children’s own perspectives on their working life and on the relation between work, school and family. It will highlight the different family strategies in coping with economical difficulties of transition and the place of children in this process. The main hypothesis is that far from being passive in the process of work, children and their families do negotiate their statuses and do make rational choices.