Los derechos de los niños en las políticas españolas para la infancia

AbstractFrom the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1989, children’s rights, mainly participation rights, and citizenship have been used as a frame of reference for policy makers at national level. However, citizenship and rights, from a substantive perspective, might be considered in national, historical and social contexts. Due to both are cultural processes.This article analyzes the Spanish policies of childhood, taking into account the historical, political and social process through which they have been providing a legal and substantive status of citizenship for children. It is distinguished three discursive stages about the child position as subject of rights in Spain. The first stage begins with the constitution of democratic and welfare state in 1978. The Spanish government opened-up to international assumptions of children’s rights, under democratic principles of universality and equality. This period was characterized by the centrality of welfare for children, where rights of provision and protection were emphasized over the idea of the children as social and participatory right-holders. The second discursive stage begins with the Spanish ratification of the 1989 United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1990, when the Spanish government develops a set of political and legislative changes towards the consideration of childhood as a social phenomenon and children as independent subject of rights. In the third and final stage, Spanish politics of childhood started to involve the idea of the competent child and citizen, according to the increased government regulation and international assumptions (Legal reform 2011). Nevertheless, these universal legalities were (re)elaborated by Spanish cultural determinants such a paternalistic perspective on family and citizenship and the emphasis on the authority and family to socialize and integrate children in society. The article concludes with some critical reflections about the impact of those policies for children regard their inclusion and real recognition as legal subjects of rights. It is suggested that extension of rights for children in Spain has not been applied evenly for all them, regardless their social background. Moreover, despite the constitutional principles of equality and universality, mechanisms of exclusion democratic and morally legitimated were generated on the based on different conceptions of childhood. Despite the protection legal reform sanctioned in 2015.ResumenDesde la ratificación de la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño de Naciones Unidas de 1989, los derechos de los niños/as, fundamentalmente de participación, y la idea de su ciudadanía han sido utilizados como marco de referencia para las políticas gubernamentales sobre la infancia en aquellos países que signaron la Convención. Sin embargo, dichas ideas han de ser interpretadas desde los contextos nacionales, históricos y sociales donde se inscriben, pues tanto la ciudadanía como la formulación sustantiva de los derechos son procesos culturales.El presente artículo analiza las políticas españolas para la infancia teniendo en cuenta el proceso histórico, político y social a través del que se ha ido otorgando un estatus legal y sustantivo de ciudadanía a los niños. Se distinguen tres etapas discursivas en torno a la posición del niño como sujeto de derechos en España. La primera se sitúa con la fundación del Estado Social y de Derechos en 1978, momento en el que se asiste a una apertura política ante las proposiciones internacionales en torno a los derechos de los niños, produciéndose la creciente extensión de los derechos de la infancia, en base a los principios democráticos de universalidad e igualdad. Esta etapa se caracteriza por la centralidad de la idea del bienestar social de la infancia, donde los derechos de protección y de provisión se enfatizaron frente a la cuestión social de los niños como sujetos de derechos independientes, desarrollándose un mayor intervencionismo público sobre los espacios tradicionalmente atribuidos a los niños.La segunda etapa discursiva comienza con la ratificación por parte de España de la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño de Naciones Unidas de 1989 en 1990, momento en el que-a instancia internacional- se desarrollan una serie de cambios políticos y legislativos encaminados a la consideración de la infancia como fenómeno social y del niño como sujeto de derechos independiente.En la tercera y última etapa, las políticas españolas para la infancia fueron incorporando la idea del niño competente y ciudadano, fruto de la creciente regulación pública de la cuestión de la infancia y de las consideraciones internacionales al respecto. Sin embargo,la implementación de estas legalidades universales pronto quedaron reelaboradas por los propios determinantes culturales, a saber:una visión paternalista de la infancia y de la ciudadanía y el énfasis en la autoridad y la familia como espacio de socialización cívica.El artículo concluye con unas reflexiones críticas sobre el impacto generado por las políticas para la infancia en la inclusión y reconocimiento de los niños como sujetos sustantivos de derecho. Se muestra cómo la extensión gradual de los derechos a la infancia no se ha aplicado de forma homogénea para todos los niños, independientemente de su origen social y que, pese a los preceptos constitucionales de igualdad y universalidad, se producen mecanismos de exclusión legitimados democrática y moralmente, con base en las distintas concepciones, instituidas socialmente, sobre la infancia y los niños. Pese a la Reforma de actualización de la Legislación sobre Protección a la Infancia, aprobada en 2015.AbstractFrom the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1989, children’s rights, mainly participation rights, and citizenship have been used as a frame of reference for policy makers at national level. However, citizenship and rights, from a substantive perspective, might be considered in national, historical and social contexts. Due to both are cultural processes.This article analyzes the Spanish policies of childhood, taking into account the historical, political and social process through which they have been providing a legal and substantive status of citizenship for children. It is distinguished three discursive stages about the child position as subject of rights in Spain. The first stage begins with the constitution of democratic and welfare state in 1978. The Spanish government opened-up to international assumptions of children’s rights, under democratic principles of universality and equality. This period was characterized by the centrality of welfare for children, where rights of provision and protection were emphasized over the idea of the children as social and participatory right-holders. The second discursive stage begins with the Spanish ratification of the 1989 United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1990, when the Spanish government develops a set of political and legislative changes towards the consideration of childhood as a social phenomenon and children as independent subject of rights. In the third and final stage, Spanish politics of childhood started to involve the idea of the competent child and citizen, according to the increased government regulation and international assumptions (Legal reform 2011). Nevertheless, these universal legalities were (re)elaborated by Spanish cultural determinants such a paternalistic perspective on family and citizenship and the emphasis on the authority and family to socialize and integrate children in society. The article concludes with some critical reflections about the impact of those policies for children regard their inclusion and real recognition as legal subjects of rights. It is suggested that extension of rights for children in Spain has not been applied evenly for all them, regardless their social background. Moreover, despite the constitutional principles of equality and universality, mechanisms of exclusion democratic and morally legitimated were generated on the based on different conceptions of childhood. Despite the protection legal reform sanctioned in 2015