The Voices of British Child Migrants: A New Approach Toward Analysing the 19th- and 20th-Century Child Migration Schemes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Roland Wenzlhuemer
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 419982286

The project "The Voices of British Child Migrants: A New Approach Toward Analysing the 19th- and 20th-Century Child Migration Schemes" takes up a question central to the Subaltern Studies and recent Global History and applies it to a group of historical actors so far largely overlooked in this context – children. The project addresses the question of marginalized actors’ voices using the example of the British child migration schemes to Australia and Canada. The ques-tion will be approached on two levels: (1) Children’s voices will be made audible while critical-ly reflecting on the practical and methodological limits of this endeavour. (2) The role of chil-dren’s voices in the history of the child migration schemes themselves will be analysed. The common epistemological interest lies in the role of children’s voices in the past, in coming to terms and in historically studying this past. The period studied spans from the child migration schemes of the late 19th century to their end in the 1960s. The project will also provide an outlook on the process of coming to terms with the past, both politically and scholarly, since the 1980s. The project will, for the first time, combine theories and methods from Subaltern Studies, recent Global History, and Childhood Studies in the historical analysis of the child migration schemes. Besides choosing a new approach towards sources from public and pri-vate archives in the UK, Australia, and Canada, the project will also broaden the range of sources scholars have used so far.The project’s aims are (1) to generate new insights into the child migration schemes by carving out children’s voices and acknowledging them in their own right, (2) to contribute to the Childhood Studies by enquiring about the role of children’s voices in (a) history of children and childhood, and (3) to make a contribution to the theoretical-methodical discussion about the representation and „speaking“ or „being heard“ of marginalized actors in history and his-toriography.The analysis of sources and scholarly literature conducted so far has led to early working hy-potheses, which are to be further analysed as the project continues. Based on these hypoth-eses, the historical development of the authority attributed to children to judge about and decide on their own situation has to be critically reconsidered. The image – widely shared among scholars – of a mostly linear evolution from emphasising children’s right to be protect-ed to emphasising their right to participate, has to be painted with more nuance.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants