Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group | “Vaulting the turnstiles: translating children’s agencies from Chile, Latin America”, por Susana Cortés-Morales (Universidad Central de Chile)

Abstract:
When searching for spaces for Global South-North dialogue within children’s geographies and childhood studies, the circulation of key concepts between different languages, cultural, historical and geographical contexts is not straightforward. Discussing how these concepts circulate between these contexts is, however, essential for developing empirical and conceptual dialogues in these fields. Based on Cortés-Morales & Morales (2022), in this talk I focus on the concept of agency and agencia, its Spanish equivalent, exploring its connotations in relation to childhood in Latin America. In doing so, I will first discuss how the concept of agency and its theoretical and epistemological developments have shaped childhood studies and children’s geographies in the Global North, in interaction with empirical research conducted in the Global South. Second I will discuss how the notion of agencia has been deployed in relation to childhood in Latin America. And finally, I will look at the historical event of secondary students vaulting over the turnstiles at the metro stations in Santiago, Chile in October 2019 – which initiated what has been known as the Chilean outbreak – aiming to point towards a situated understanding of agency in this particular context, integrating both agency and agencia.

About the Speaker:
Dr Susana Cortés-Morales is based in Universidad Central de Chile. She
holds a PhD from University of Leeds. Her main research interests
include children’s mobilities, child wellbeing and childhood-nature
relationships. She is based in Chile and has conducted research in Chile
and the UK. She is also a member of the Common Worlds Research
Collective.

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