Independent Child Migration In Southern Benin: An Ethnographic Challenge To The "Pathological" Paradigm

This book explores the reasons why children independently migrate in Southern Benin. It is inspired by the evident disjunct between the dominant discursive representations of 'child trafficking' and the multiple and overlapping realities of independent child migrants in the country. It is based on detailed participant observation and dozens of interviews with Beninese children and adults. Using a theoretical framework that challenges the assumptions underpinning western understandings of family, children, childhood, mobility, structure and agency, the book demonstrates that child migration in Benin is an ever-changing but deeply embedded social reality, which has been fundamentally misconstrued by international civil society actors. Anyone interested in going beyond the reductive narrative of 'child trafficking' will find this essential reading.