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

“英国儿童移民的声音：分析19世纪和20世纪儿童移民计划的新方法”项目探讨了一个对下属研究和近期全球史至关重要的问题，并将其应用于迄今为止在这方面基本上被忽视的一组历史行为者-儿童。该项目以英国儿童向澳大利亚和加拿大移民计划为例，探讨边缘化行为者的声音问题。这个问题将从两个层面来处理：（1）儿童的声音将被听到，同时批判性地反思这一努力的实际和方法上的局限性。(2)将分析儿童的声音在儿童移民计划本身的历史中所起的作用。共同的认识论兴趣在于儿童的声音在过去的作用，在未来的条款和历史研究这一过去。所研究的时期从19世纪末的儿童移民计划到20世纪60年代结束。该项目还将展望自1980年代以来在政治和学术方面接受过去的过程。该项目将首次将联合收割机的理论和方法，从下层研究，最近的全球历史，和童年研究的历史分析的儿童移民计划。除了从英国、澳大利亚和加拿大的公共和私人档案中选择新的资料来源外，该项目还将扩大学者们迄今使用的资料来源范围。该项目的目标是：（1）通过挖掘儿童的声音并承认他们自己的权利，（2）通过询问儿童声音在（a）儿童和童年历史中的作用，为儿童研究做出贡献，（3）对表征与“说”或“被听”的理论方法论讨论作出贡献迄今为止对资料来源和学术文献进行的分析导致了早期的工作假设，随着项目的继续，将进一步分析这些假设。基于这些假设，我们必须批判性地重新审视儿童对自己处境的判断和决定权的历史发展。从强调儿童受保护的权利到强调儿童参与的权利，这一基本上是线性演变的形象-在学者中得到广泛认同-必须以更细微的差别加以描绘。

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.