Not Mere Objects: Uncovering Children's Subjectivities in Migration

The third digital workshop of the GHI’s international standing working group “In Search of the Migrant Child”  focuses on children’s subjectivities in contexts of migration. Mobility takes place at different levels and in different national, social or economic settings. The administration and organization of migrants of all ages, however, often leads to de-personalization - especially child migrants become governed objects, deprived of individual emotions, experiences or reasoning. This de-personalization also shapes the sources that emerge out of these migrants’ movements. For a long time, historiographies of childhood and migration have neglected sources and methodologies that reflect and incorporate the subjectivity of young migrants. 

The third workshop of the working group aims to draw attention to the often overlooked and diverse subjectivities of young migrants, uncovering sources associated with this dimension of their histories. The program  begins with an interdisciplinary roundtable, titled “Giving a Voice to Children’s Subjectivities” and is dedicated to perspectives and methods from neighboring disciplines of the humanities and social sciences. Following that, members of the group will present historical case studies that offer insights into child migrants’ perspectives, their very own experiences, and their particular needs when facing displacement and migration.

The workshop is by invitation only.