“Majority childhood”: line of flight from the democratic government of childhood

Abstract

Childhood and youth have been addressed and lived out under the sign of minority. Outside social control, they are actually considered as a “disease” that must be cured. This article briefly outlines the genealogy of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA), highlighting its advances in relation to previous legislation on childhood in Brazil, the Code of Minors. It analyzes the emergence of ECA against the background of the New Republic and the redemocratization process in Brazil, through the conceptual operator of democratic governmentality, showing that it related to the subjectification of children and youth as citizens of rights, under a logic of comprehensive protection. A democratic form of government, yet a government of childhood and youth, nonetheless, keeping them under the guardianship of adults. It draws attention to the limitations of this legislation since, despite the advances and comprehensive protection policy, children and youth continue dying or being incarcerated on large scale. Considering possible escape routes from the government of childhood, a distinct political approach outside the condition of minority, the text explores the philosophy of Charles Fourier, who conceives a completely different relationship between children, youth and adults, refuting any kind of guardianship. In the words of René Schérer, a “majority childhood,” emancipated, a sign of great health.