“Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African Republic

In the present article I outline the situation of children who belong to an indigenous community of Ba’Aka Pygmies, a group inhabiting the Sangha-Mbaéré region of rainforest in the Central African Republic. These children are inscribed in the categories of “invisible” and “unheard” children. They ar...

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Main Author: Urszula Markowska-Manista
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Gdańsk 2016-09-01
Series:Problemy Wczesnej Edukacji
Subjects:
Online Access:https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/pwe/article/view/776
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author Urszula Markowska-Manista
author_facet Urszula Markowska-Manista
author_sort Urszula Markowska-Manista
collection DOAJ
description In the present article I outline the situation of children who belong to an indigenous community of Ba’Aka Pygmies, a group inhabiting the Sangha-Mbaéré region of rainforest in the Central African Republic. These children are inscribed in the categories of “invisible” and “unheard” children. They are also deprived of the right to be properly researched. This is due to a number of external and internal factors which shape the contemporary reality of the formerly colonised country. Despite the fact that the Central African Republic broke free from colonial oppression, since 1960s it has been experiencing internal colonisation and civilising missions by the countries of the Global North so as to be “fruitfully” written in the narrative of national development. Thus, referring to key categories, I discuss postcolonial representations: images and narratives perceived through the perspective of a female researcher who, since 2002, has conducted field research among excluded and marginalised children and young people in fragile (vulnerable) contexts in Central Africa.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1734-1582
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publishDate 2016-09-01
publisher University of Gdańsk
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spelling doaj-art-58c75a730f1e4b70a3cd1689c88df2862025-02-11T11:24:30ZengUniversity of GdańskProblemy Wczesnej Edukacji1734-15822451-22302016-09-01354“Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African RepublicUrszula Markowska-Manista0The Maria Grzegorzewska UniversityIn the present article I outline the situation of children who belong to an indigenous community of Ba’Aka Pygmies, a group inhabiting the Sangha-Mbaéré region of rainforest in the Central African Republic. These children are inscribed in the categories of “invisible” and “unheard” children. They are also deprived of the right to be properly researched. This is due to a number of external and internal factors which shape the contemporary reality of the formerly colonised country. Despite the fact that the Central African Republic broke free from colonial oppression, since 1960s it has been experiencing internal colonisation and civilising missions by the countries of the Global North so as to be “fruitfully” written in the narrative of national development. Thus, referring to key categories, I discuss postcolonial representations: images and narratives perceived through the perspective of a female researcher who, since 2002, has conducted field research among excluded and marginalised children and young people in fragile (vulnerable) contexts in Central Africa. https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/pwe/article/view/776fragile contextsfield researchcolonial and postcolonial representations
spellingShingle Urszula Markowska-Manista
“Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African Republic
Problemy Wczesnej Edukacji
fragile contexts
field research
colonial and postcolonial representations
title “Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African Republic
title_full “Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African Republic
title_fullStr “Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African Republic
title_full_unstemmed “Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African Republic
title_short “Invisible” and “unheard” children in fragile contexts – reflections from field research among the Ba’Aka in the Central African Republic
title_sort invisible and unheard children in fragile contexts reflections from field research among the ba aka in the central african republic
topic fragile contexts
field research
colonial and postcolonial representations
url https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/pwe/article/view/776
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