Twenty-Third International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

While the majority of research on solidarity focuses on practices among adults, little is known about the social experiences of solidarity among children, particularly unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs). Studies involving URMs reveal that their basic needs are often met by the asylum reception systems in Europe. However, the recognition of their human rights, as well as acknowledging their voices and agency as unique individuals, is often met with encounters of struggle. The research study builds on Axel Honneth’s critical theory of recognition, which is fundamentally concerned with social inequalities. It adopts a revised approach to Honneth’s theory through the lens of the new social studies of childhood, which situates children as autonomous and active agents, rather than passive victims. The study argues that for solidarity, defined as support for and among forced migrants, to be truly experienced, it necessitates recognition. Drawing on 16 months of in-depth ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a small-scale reception centre for URMs operated by a non-governmental organization in Belgium, the study involves extensive participant observation of 13 youngsters aged between 11 and 18 years, complemented by 43 semi-structured interviews. It investigates how URMs understand, exercise, and receive different forms of emotional, legal, and social recognition, and examines where solidarity practices are revealed and where they lack. The study calls for acknowledging URMs not solely as recipients but as active and potential contributors who can enrich their new environments, transcending their perpetual victimization and positioning them as agents with capacities.