This thesis explores how children’s experiences of childhood in Kyrgyzstan transformed after the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991) and the consequent transition to market economy. In particular it studies the interrelations of culture and economic circumstances and their effects on child agency in times of economic, social, cultural and political change which were not given enough attention in the relevant literature. I sampled 40 children (aged 12 and 16) from a state school in an underprivileged area and a prestigious private school (used as economic dividers) to study the complexity of child agency and structure in their daily lives. An ‘agency’ concept was applied as a theoretical framework conceptualised through the four components as action, freedom, purposiveness and outcome and was formulated as the setting-based ability of children to act in response to cultural and economic structures and relationships at home, school and the neighbourhood. The effects of low and high income on child agency are not straightforward due to the changing traditional culture in the Kyrgyz society, which makes agency not only a social and cultural construct, but one affected by economic conditions. The study demonstrated the nuances of child agency as freedom in high income, its conflicting purposes in low income and differentiated outcomes of short and long term wellbeing between the two groups. Economic circumstances do not only influence the dynamics of agency across settings, age and gender but challenge the very notion of the classic Western concept of agency as an independent ability to act. The findings elaborate on the concepts of the new sociology of childhood (Prout and James, 1997) and the cultural politics of childhood (James and James, 2004), as these theoretical frameworks do not account sufficiently for economic dis/advantages as a structural factor of agency, which emerges as a socially shared process of acting whose nature depends on material circumstances.

The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the current state of literature surrounding childhood and child agency, and how dominant notions of these concepts result in practical implications pertaining to the nature of the participation of former child soldiers in post-conflict reintegration programmes. As the literature and practice surrounding children in post-conflict environments currently stands, there is a recurring preoccupation with traditional notions of childhood which uphold notions of innocence, vulnerability, and dependency, with only minimal attempts to conceptualise child agency as a crucial factor once the guns have been put down. This ultimately results in former child soldiers being dealt with as objects to be secured, as opposed to fully-fledged participants and agents in their own reintegration processes. This research thereby seeks to answer the question: “How would the formulation of a normative framework of child agency alter the orientation of post-conflict reintegration programmes in the future?” The researcher will engage the matter of child agency in post-conflict reintegration through a critical lens, both in terms of the literary and conceptual foundations contributing towards current narratives, as well as the current state of reintegration programmes as they target former child soldiers in northern Uganda. The qualitative approach of a critical literature review, followed by a critical analysis of the case of northern Uganda, will be employed as the key methods of this research. The literature to be used will be purposively sampled secondary sources. This mini-dissertation upholds the position that, in order for post-conflict reintegration programmes to be successful in their endeavour to reintegrate former child soldiers, children should not be rendered as peripheral actors in these processes. Rather, they should be present as key participatory agents in their own right. / Mini Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Political Sciences / MSS / Unrestricted

South-Africa’s government has adopted several global, national, and regional developmental agendas to combat systemic inequalities in the country. The developmental agendas should consider the role of children’s agency in reducing poverty and environmental risks. South Africa ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child (ARCWC) and is therefore bound through international treaties to protect and promote children’s rights (Hall, Richter, Mokomane & Lake, 2018:48). The goal of the study was to explore and describe how children’s agency is recognised and respected in programmes/interventions aimed at reducing poverty and environmental risk in the case study of Lerato House, Tshwane Leadership Foundation. The researcher used a qualitative research approach, and the type of research was applied. The research design was a case study, and a purposive sampling method was used to sample five child participants and five key informants from Lerato House. Data was collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The findings show that children’s agency is recognised and respected in the planning and implementation phases of the programme, while there is a lack of children’s participation in the conceptualisation phase and little participation in the monitoring and evaluation phase. The study concludes that children’s agency was more likely to be recognised and respected when staff have been trained to work with children and when children were allowed to provide their input into programmes. The study recommends that children’s agency be recognised and developed by preparing and allowing them to participate in all the phases of programmes at Lerato House aimed at reducing poverty and environmental risks. / Mini Dissertation (MSW (Social Development and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW (Social Dev and Policy) / Unrestricted