PhD ThesisThis project aims to advance understandings of children as political agents. Children are
emerging as complex political actors in global conflicts. Their ambiguous roles on the
battlefield pose important questions about their positioning in post-conflict society,
particularly through mechanisms of transitional justice. Despite this, there is a lack of
scholarly engagement with the question of the political agency of children in post-conflict
societies. Of particular concern is how social constructs of “children” and “childhood”
prevent those who are under 18 from receiving the support they need to be viewed as
legitimate political actors. Child actors are thus not acknowledged in their own terms.
Rather their roles as actors are framed through the conceptualisation and context of an
adult world that is not designed to, nor has made space for, understanding their political
agency. Due to a lack of self-determination and self-definition, a disabling combination,
children have been left vulnerable to exploitation and ultimately a denial of political
agency. Instead, children exist within a narrow framework defined by cultural and social
expectations that prohibit them from partaking in activities considered ʻadult.ʼ When war
causes the child to act outside of familiar social frameworks, they become misunderstood,
misrepresented, and ultimately marginalised. This thesis examines the overarching
international approach towards the child actor through the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It investigates the way the UNCRC creates a
prescriptive understanding of children and childhood, drawn from a European history of
ideas. The thesis identifies three pairs of themes that position the child’s identity:
citizenship and agency, innocence and immaturity, education and labour. The case of
Colombia is then used to assess the impact of framing the child in this way. By examining
the role of children in an environment of conflict and transition to post-conflict, the thesis
investigates the international discourse on the child. The context of conflict and postconflict
enables an analysis of the roles that children assume that appear contrary to the
identity outlined within the UNCRC. This tension between the international discourse on
the child and the framework of Colombian discourse affects the security of children in
vulnerable positions. The thesis concludes by contesting dominating discourses on
children within the international arena and explores the positive implications of
positioning the child with greater political agency