Invited to labour or participate: intra- and inter-generational distinctions and the role of capital in children’s invited participation

ABSTRACT

This paper applies aspects of Bourdieu’s conceptual toolkit related to capital, and analyses inter- and intra-generational relations of influence. Applying Bourdieu’s concepts to examples of case studies from a children’s parliament in Finland, and with reference to an adult resident forum, moments of continuity and disruption in the relatively stable patterns of distinction between children and adults emerge. Children in school councils (at times) are labourers for agendas set by teachers, but the children at the top of the structure’s hierarchy can benefit from cultural capital and a functional capital that enables them to set agendas and direct the work of others. The political capital of the person presenting views from the participation sphere and the dominant symbolic capital of market logics appear to have a greater impact than generation on the influence participants achieve. Unquestioned acceptance of this differentiation suggests that new approaches to invited participation structures are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• participation
• influence
• inter-generational relations
• capital
• Bourdieu

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank professor emerita Leena Alanen and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Described, for example, in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).

2. We use the term influence in this article, as this echoes the terminology in the UN Convention, however theories of power are essential for understanding what this can mean.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland [grant number 251173].