Children and Childhood in Migration Contexts

A presentation of the difficulties of defining the childhood and children in cultural and historical studies is followed by a presentation of the different forms of positioning children in the migration process and the making of decisions about them. Each form is illustrated with examples from research projects, based on auto/biographical sources and narrative descriptions of subjective migration experience. The conclusion argues that migration researchers take into account the subjectivity of the “objects” of their research projects and humanize the migrants, especially their children. In this way, the text combines the children in the historical context of Slovenian emigration with the children in the context of immigration to Slovenia today in a united story.
KEY WORDS: the positioning of children in migration contexts, Slovenian emigration, stigmatization of children migrants