PANEL ORGAN - KIIT University

Anthropology, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, D-14195 Berlin, E-mail:
The “Globalised” Emotional Economies of The Street Children:A Case Studies From
Yogekarta,Indonesia
The article aims to illustrate the impact of Yogyakarta’s perpetually changing charity
landscape on “street children’s” coping strategies. By analysing the children’s and youths’
social encounters with NGO-activists, I will demonstrate that their practices of collective
identity construction are highly intertwined with global NGO-policies and their definitions
of “what a real street child is”. Only if they manage to embody the images of this
“universalized street child” and adapt to continuously changing global NGO-policies, socioeconomic
security networks and emotional well-being can be established.
SARCINELLI, Alice Sophie, France, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Anthropology74, rue Myrha 75018, Paris. Email:
Children and Social Workers View on Crack
Ethnographical data showed that there is a significant difference between homeless of
different ages. This evidence contributes to the theoretical debate about the limits
between childhood, adolescence and youth. This article will explore cultural identity of a
group of young crack users (9-17 years old) living in a central square of a big metropolis in
Northeast Brazil. I will show how the relation between street children and a local NGO has
changed after the diffusion of crack in 2007. Namely, I will analyze how children and
street social workers experience, imagine and express the presence of crack. The
presentation will debrief micro and macro logics that shape the experience of many
children in contemporary Brazil. This is an attempt to articulate the social experience of
crack with a specific phase in the lifecycle. The subjective experience of crack to
Northeastern Brazil will be linked to his political economy.
PORCELLI, Paola, University of Paris, France, E-mail:
Mama May I Go to White People’s Place The Social Construction of Child Mobility from
Local to a Global Perspective
Child mobility in West Africa is a complex phenomenon which implies long separations
between a child and his/her biological parents. Over the last 40 years, scholars from
different disciplines have identified multiple patterns of youth displacement and created
various labels to describe these situations. The most common are fosterage, circulation of
children, child relocation, child migration and custom adoption. Some of these practices
are currently undergoing deep transformations deriving from economical crises and
determine at-risk situations. Moreover, the recent discourses promoted by international
organizations produced new labels, which redefine both communities’ and actors’
perceptions of child mobility. This presentation aims at exploring the social constructions
deriving from the introduction of two global categories: the “vulnerable child” and the
“unattached child”. As a result of this ideological shifting, young people develop
paradoxical aspirations, which lead them to leave their parents’ homes in order to get
closer to “white people’s places”.
PANEL-13(B): THE MAKING OF CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE CASE OF “UNATTACHED”
CHILDREN