Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Adolescents’ Rights in Colombia: Between Invisibility and Incapacity

This thesis centers on an analysis of the situation of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents transiting through and settling in Colombia, from a children’s rights perspective. These children are being invisibilized, which is causing their unprotection and multiple violations of their rights. Through a critical policy analysis, with a review of Colombian migration and child protection policies, and interviews with governmental and nongovernmental representatives working with migrant children in the country, the study aimed at contrasting policies with the real practices of migrant children protection. The analysis recurred to Bauman, Butler, Crenshaw, among other authors to show how the Colombian bureaucracy, which should be protecting them, is invisibilizing them, aggravating the precariousness of their living conditions, and increasing their vulnerability. The Colombian bureaucracy inflicts violence on these children by actively producing their invisibilization through inducing a “moral distantiation” from them, and not deploying enough efforts to collect statistical information about them. Additionally, this bureaucracy exacerbates the precariousness in the children’s living conditions through different barriers that hinder their access to protection such as insufficient state capacity and lack of allocation of resources. Finally, it increases their vulnerability by leaving them exposed to diverse risks particulars of the social and political complexity of the Colombian context. This situation is more critically impacting females, LGBTQ+ youths, children with disabilities, indigenous children, and older adolescents. The document ends by issuing some recommendations to increase the visibility of these children, to tailor the protective institutional offer to their needs and interests, and to approach them from a humble and caring position

Análisis de experiencias educativas en organizaciones y movimientos sociales en América Latina

La investigación hace un acercamiento a las experiencias educativas de movimientos sociales de Colombia y América Latina empleando los planteamientos teóricos de la epistemología del sur propuesta por Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Analiza las experiencias a través de tres dimensiones: epistemológica, política y pedagógica. Busca hacer un acercamiento al espacio pedagógico más allá de los contextos formales como la escuela o la universidad, en los que se ha centrado tradicionalmente. De igual manera, busca comprender las rupturas epistemológicas, los enfoques, posturas y plataformas políticas que las sustentan. Es de nuestro interés comprender también qué tipo de subjetividades se originan en estas experiencias, cómo se resignifican nuevas ciudadanías e identidades y que luchas surgen a su interior en defensa de los Derechos Humanos. Como parte de este análisis es preciso además reconocer la manera como en ellas se democratiza el conocimiento y emergen saberes pedagógicos novedosos. Las experiencias analizadas fueron: Universidad Intercultural de las nacionalidades y pueblos indígenas del Ecuador Amawtay Wasi (Casa de la sabiduría); la Universidad Autónoma Indígena e intercultural del Cauca UAIIN (Colombia); la Universidad Indígena Intercultural-Red UII; la Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó(Colombia); las Escuelas de liderazgo, Educación cooperativa y UNISANGIL, lideradas por movimientos sociales del sur de Santander (Colombia); la Escuela Nacional Florestan Fernándes del Movimiento Sin Tierra(Brasil); y los Bachilleratos Populares, iniciativa de los movimientos sociales de empresas y fábricas recuperadas (Argentina).The research makes an approach to the educational experiences of social movements in Colombia and Latin America using the theoretical approaches to the epistemology of the south proposed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Analyzes the experiences through three dimensions: epistemological, political and pedagogical. Looking to make an approach to teaching space beyond formal contexts such as school or university, which has traditionally focused. Similarly, seeks to understand the epistemological ruptures, approaches, views and political platforms that support them. It is in our interest to understand what kind of subjectivities also originate from these experiences, how to redefine new citizenships and identities that arise inside struggles in defense of human rights. As part of this analysis is also necessary to recognize how they emerge democratizes knowledge and innovative pedagogical knowledge. The experiences were analyzed: Intercultural University of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador and Amawtay Wasi (House of Wisdom), the University of Cauca Indigenous and intercultural UAIIN (Colombia), the Intercultural Indigenous University UII Network, the Community Peace San Jose de Apartado (Colombia) School leadership, Education and UNISANGIL cooperative, led by social movements in the south of Santander (Colombia), the Florestan Fernandes National School of the Landless Movement (Brazil) and the Baccalaureate People's initiative social movements of companies and factories recovered (Argentina).Magíster en EducaciónMaestrí