Lessons Gleaned from the Political Participation of Children in Bahrain Uprising

Abstract

Reflecting the tension between state sovereignty and human rights, this paper discusses the moral and ethical implications of the political participation and detention of Bahraini children against the backdrop of sectarian geopolitics. Drawing methodological insights from postmodernism, this paper argues that reading of Bahraini children as political subjects are objectified and reified with truth claims, which ascribes them a minoritized status based on age and sect. This paper is interdisciplinary in its approach and is three-pronged: First, it begins by providing a contextual analysis of sectarian politics and dichotomous discourses of national sovereignty and human rights. Secondly, this paper juxtaposes competing definitions of violence in reference to child psychology and human rights literature. Thirdly, this paper looks at dialectics of natural rights from a postmodern anti-humanist lens by examining inter-subjective discursive formations ascribed to the legitimacy of children’s participation in civil disobedience, and concludes with a few thoughts on the implications of the protracted political deadlock on children’s rights.