Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses the roles performed by children in extractive industries controlled by non-state armed groups in Colombia. It discusses limited academic interpretations of ‘child soldiering’ and ‘child labour’ and its implications in terms of human rights violations and policy interventions.

Paper long abstract:

The exploitation of natural resources has become an important financial lifeline for non-state armed groups (NSAG) in current internal conflicts. Children are currently performing crucial roles as soldiers and miners alongside domestic tasks or involvement in illegal economies. The widespread effect of stereotyping the representation of children used to participate in hostilities and labour, as only being manipulated subjects, has oversimplified the reality of child participation in war and labour. This prevalent view in the studies of 'child soldiering' does not allow a broader understanding of the multiple agencies and roles that children perform in wartime. Although a body of scholars has increasingly paid attention to the importance of recognising and studying the agency of and capacity for choice by children to participate in armed conflicts, more analysis is needed in order to understand the (re)configuration and negotiation of multiple non-western 'childhoods' in the midst of protracted conflicts. Taking Colombia as a case study, I discuss the limited academic interpretation of 'child soldiering' and its implications in terms of human rights violations and policy interventions. I argue that that the analytical boxes that have defined child labour and the use of children for war do not allow for a wider comprehension of the multiple roles performed by children in current conflicts as well as their capacities of choice and outline a theoretical framework that can help address this gap in theorising and practice.