Children as Social Movement Participants

Although the popular image of social movement protest is tied to youth, this image is not generally extended to younger children. Children throughout history have participated in social movements, and yet the social construction of children as wholly innocent acts as a barrier to their perceived involvement. Childhood itself is viewed as a protected and universalized space, thereby denying its multiple social locations. Indeed, if children were viewed as inhabiting a socio-political location this might actually be seen to warrant their movement participation. As it stands, however, the reality of children clashes with the preferred image and therefore children appear to be the most understudied of all social movement participants.