Agency, resilience and vulnerability of children in contexts of conflict-induced displacement

Denkowski, Cordula von; Krause, Ulrike

Abstract

Violent conflict is one of the major causes of forced migration. Children make up almost half of all displaced people worldwide and they are often particularly affected. Experiences and living conditions of displaced children are manifold and shaped by the specific regional, political, social, economic and cultural contexts. Despite this diversity and complexity, however, much academic research adopts a binary perspective on displaced children, regarding them as either vulnerable or resilient, and as either passive victims or social actors. In this chapter, we contest this view by showing that agency, resilience and vulnerability are complementary and mutually interacting processes. To this aim, we focus on the experiences of displaced children during the process of forced migration, including their situation on flight routes, in camps, as asylum seekers and after durable solutions. Drawing on contemporary research debates, we address situations of displaced children in various countries and regions of the world.