Augendra Bhukuth

Is child labour a substitute for adult labour?: A case study of brick kiln workers in Tamil Nadu, India

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight that child labour is complementary to adult labour in the brick kiln industry.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a case study of bonded labourers in the brick kiln industry of Southeast India.Findings – The paper finds that child labour is used by parents in the moulding process in order to avoid falling into debt bondage. In this industry, brick making is organized as a home‐based enterprise. Thus, child labour increases the family productivity and consequently its income. In case of a ban on child labour bonded parents will be worse‐off. NGOs can play an essential role by preventing families from falling into bondage and by improving their living standards.Originality/value – The results may help the NGOs address child labour issues in the developing world.

Child Labor and Responsible Consumers: From Boycotts to Social Labels, Illustrated by the Indian Hand-Knotted Carpet Industry

The basic strategy for the fight against child labor has been boycotting efforts followed by labeling practices. This article reviews the development of these practices and their impact on the hand-knotted carpet industry in India. The authors highlight the fact that though labeling has responded to many of the criticisms of boycotts, labeling too has shortcomings related to its trustworthiness in situations where information is highly asymmetrical among stakeholders. The labeling may lack credibility and, thus, arguably, has limited impact on the hand-knotted carpet industry. The article discusses why and how labeling may lack credibility. Since the article is a conceptual assessment and not an empirical study, it draws on other sources for relevant empirical information.

Vulnerability to Violence of "Talibe" Children in Mauritania.

Talibés are children sent to Quranic schools, which are also known as daaras. The term talibé is a French word derived rom the Arabic tâlib, meaning a person seeking knowledge. According to Cruise O’Brien (1969, 1970) the phenomenon of he talibés originated in the Muslim brotherhoods founded by Amadou Bamba, brotherhoods that began to proliferate from 880. This was a widespread phenomenon in French-speaking West Africa. These daaras should not be confused with medersas. Daaras are completely independent establishments and are virtually ntirely devoted to study of the Quran, whereas medersas are funded by the government and are virtually state schools. edersas are also religious (Islamic) schools, but they also teach secular subjects, such as languages, mathematics, history, eography, etc. Furthermore, in daaras, young boys are sent away from home for a couple of years and placed in the care of Quranic teacher, which is not normally the case for Medersas. In our study, we only considered daaras. Based on the principle that the disciple or talibé cannot hope to reach paradise, that is, achieve beatitude, without the ssistance of a master (or Sheikh), the disciple submits himself entirely to his master. In particular, the principle of disciples reely giving work or money to the master is what allows the master to earn a living by acting as a spiritual guide. However, his principle of a freely given gift soon turned into a “religious tax” as a result of changes in the economy, and the advent f a market economy. Neither the disciples nor their masters could escape the needs arising from the market economy. heir new needs made disciples became increasingly reluctant to give freely, and so the masters introduced a system of ompulsory payment. The master, who is also known as the marabout, takes complete responsibility for the child and his education, thus freeing he parents from the task of providing an education. In exchange for this, the master or marabout demands payment. This ayment can take the form of money or payment in kind (usually food, but livestock in some cases) from the parents, and oney obtained by the child by means of begging.

Recruitment Patterns of Child Trafficking in Madagascar: An Analysis Based on Missing and Recovered Children

ABSTRACT Previous studies on child trafficking have focused on transborder phenomena due to the magnitude of the levels of exploitation observed in this context. Unfortunately, such a focus has greatly neglected child trafficking and its traits within the borders of a particular country. The goal of this article is to take stock of the situation in Madagascar. Our research is the first to empirically explore the issue in relation to Madagascar. It presents a typology of patterns in child trafficking based on the results of qualitative research. It examines the impact of supply-and-demand factors on child trafficking and discusses the approaches that should be used in the implementation of anti-trafficking policies. Our analysis therefore offers an opportunity to reassess the policies that have been enacted to eradicate child trafficking.

Re-examining Children’s Economic and Non-Economic Activities Using the Capability Approach

Many case studies in this book deal with the work activities of children (see especially Chapters 5, 7 and 8). This chapter uses the capability approach (CA) to revisit key concepts and highlight the corresponding policy implications.

Les enfants mendiants à Antananarivo : quelles logiques familiales sont à l'œuvre ?

Child beggars form a specific category of child workers. They are generally associated with street-living children, as defined by Unicef. Analysis of begging thus generally focuses on children’s survival strategies. Using data from an exploratory survey conducted in Antananarivo in autumn 2009, this research paper shows that in the Madagascan capital, the vast majority of child beggars are in fact exploited by their family and do not live on the streets. It proposes a typology of child beggar categories based on the level of parental coercion, looking at family rationales and child beggar trajectories. Possible interpretations are discussed. The findings show that at least three categories of child beggars can be defined. They are associated with different levels of child coercion and correspond to specific age groups. The youngest children are beaten by their family to force them to beg. Above a certain age, physical violence becomes less common and, instead, the children are deprived of food. Last, for the oldest children, violence becomes psychological, with children made to feel guilty about their family’s plight so that they continue to beg on its behalf.

Family Rationales Behind Child Begging in Antananarivo, Madagascar

The media have often presented child labour as one of the most striking symbols of poverty. Although it first came to attention in the Western world with the advent of the industrial revolution (Schlemmer 2006), child labour, particularly in developing countries, was thrust into the spotlight in the mid-1990s with the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 and the creation of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Fighting Against Child Exploitation: Policy Implications

The debate concerning the fight against child labour has given rise to two rather different positions. On the one hand, abolitionists who rely on international conventions argue for a total eradication of the phenomenon.

The Exploitation of Talibé Children in Mauritania

Talibes are children, usually boys, who have been sent to Koranic schools, also known as daaras. This is a widespread phenomenon in French-speaking West Africa.

Prostitution and Survival in Mauritius

In this article we present the results of a qualitative survey on teenage mothers in Mauritius. We expose the causes and consequences of teenage motherhood in Mauritius. The causes of child pregnancy are household poverty, personal characteristics of children and the social environment. One of the consequences of teenage motherhood in Mauritius is prostitution. We show how children are involved in prostitution.