Children as Citizens

Abstract

Due to changing social conditions active citizenship becomes a dynamic process rather than a standard, clear-cut set of rights and responsibilities. Furthermore, childhood presents itself more and more as an ambivalent social phenomenon. On the one hand, children are seen as autonomous individuals, on the other hand, as objects of protection. Nevertheless, today children can be seen as active citizens. Their ability to learn and play allows them to give active meaning to their environment. Accepting playful and ambivalent forms of citizenship, child participation presents itself no longer as an utopia, but as a fact.