PANEL ORGAN - KIIT University

Andean Children as Cultural Actors and Global Issue: An Example of ‘Corporate Social
Responsibility’ (CSR) Intervention in Rural Peru
In the Andean area of Peru, children’s participation in agricultural activities in the family
framework is linked to their involvement in rituals of thanks for earth – the Pachamama –
and for products supplied to household. This association gives them a cultural identity very
different from other parts of the country where children’s economic participation is highly
stigmatized. Meanwhile, since 2001, a Spanish telecommunications company implements
in the framework of its “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) a social program called
Proniño aiming to eradicate all forms of child labor in the country, including in rural areas
where children’s participation in farming and cultural activities is predominant. Based on
an ethnographic fieldwork, this communication proposes to analyze “other” childhood
instrumentalization by the institutional logic of CSR, and the emergence of a new form of
ethno and adultocentrism, related to globalization and the seeking of new markets by
multinational companies.
SHARMA, Minushree, Doctoral Candidate Singapore, National University of Singapore
AS103-06 11 Arts Link Singapore-117570 / Block 352, #03-113, Clementi Avenue 2,
Singapore-120352, E-mail:
The Challenges of doing Participatory Research among Street and Slum Children of
KolKata, India
This paper is based on conceptual and practical lessons learnt from experiences of
Nabadisha programme for street and slum children of Kolkata, India. The programme is
primarily dedicated to the education of street and slum children by providing them with
preparatory schooling before mainstreaming them into formal schools. In recognition that
children are social actors in their own right, whose views and perceptions need to be
understood, this paper gives space for children’s own experiences and perceptions about
their everyday life, dreams and aspirations, and also discusses the approaches employed
to gather information and the role of ethics in doing child-oriented research. I argue that
listening to children’s views and perspectives is particularly important if we wish to gain a
greater understanding of the similarities and differences between different children’s
lives. In planning programmes and policies for children, it is important to recognize the
diversity among children’s life experiences, and to respond to children within their local
community context. During my fieldwork I have observed that street children spend more
time in the school as compared to the children coming from the slum. For street children
school is not merely for education, but also acts as a space for friendship and an escape
from living in public all the time. It is important to adopt a reflexive methodology in order
to do participatory research with children. Children respond differently based on the
researcher’s approach. In my case this involves my position as an adult and also as a
volunteer for an NGO, maintaining confidentiality which is highly valued by children and
providing adequate information about the research.
DE CASTRO, Lucia Rabello, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Av. Rui Barbosa
40 apto. 902 Rio de Janeiro, CEP 22250 020, Brazil, E-mail:
Children’s Autonomy in Educational Settings in Brazil: Changes and Challenges
Children’s autonomy has stood as a main goal in the process of educational relationships
conducive to an increasing capacity on children’s part to share the normative encodings of
social life purported by the self’s rational choice and decision. Deep changes in the
material basis of societies and cultural dominants have affected the nature of the social
bond that secures children’s internalization of norms and identification with societal
values. This paper re-visits the concept of autonomy in order to examine present
dilemmas and difficulties of intergenerational relationships in educational settings in