Why the Left Needs Children

Posted on January 10, 2008. Written by Adam Wilson

I’ve been a parent, along with my partner Megan, for a little more than two years, and we have tried to stay committed to social justice work since the appearance of our daughter in our lives. While our participation in activist work has been limited recently as a result of raising our child and job changes, it also makes me wonder about the Left and our relationship to children in our midst.

I don’t think it’s particularly unique to the Left that children hold an uneasy place in activist spaces. We live in an excessively competitive, resource-scarce society that demands time from working people to the exclusion of generations that don’t do paid work – kids are supposed to be in school or daycare, the non-working elderly in nursing homes, the unemployable in prisons. I do not mean to make this an accusatory piece – obviously, much of the work done by the social justice community revolves around making the world better and safer for children and future generations. This piece serves as an exploration of why, as conscious people and communities, we need to purposefully pursue inclusion of children in our activities, communities, and spaces.

One of the most insightful conversations I’ve had in the last year was with a close friend who recently became a parent himself – he noted that our society discourages inter-generational contact (full disclosure: that friend started this blog). Maybe this is an obvious statement to most readers, but it strikes me as worthy of reflection. I’ve heard a good amount of adult friends, including committed activists, who almost proudly proclaim that they “don’t like children” or “are not good with children”. I don’t know many people who would say the same thing about other groups of people – ethnic groups, religious denominations, the handicapped. I don’t think it could be an acceptable statement about other aged-defined groups, like the elderly. So why is it okay to say towards the young?

Part of the Left’s uneasiness with children may be a backlash against propaganda techniques of the Right – racist, classist attacks on social services, individual rights, and minority communities are so often shrouded in “family values” rhetoric. We are brow-beaten, told repeatedly that there is one acceptable way to live – the nuclear family – and those outside this limited framework don’t count. Also, because of the limited time we have, and level of commitment activism requires under current conditions (and without progressive institutions), many activists are aware of how often activists-cum-parents “graduate” from regular participation to the aforementioned bubble of the nuclear family. But, I think it is less important (at least for this piece) to identify the barriers to a fuller participation by the youngest our activist communities. More importantly, I want to discuss why the Left needs children.

There are numerous reasons we need to seriously approach child-inclusive spaces.

We need our children to grow up knowing the politics of inclusion, of organizing, and of community; and not only knowing about such beliefs, but believing in positive social change. Some reasons I’ve identified:

• Many of the most disenfranchised have children. Generally, in our experience, a lack of diversity in self-identified activists results in a relatively young, upper middle-class population of activists speaking on behalf of oppressed communities. We create unbalanced political movements when kids are excluded and the norm of attendance is from the privileged without children.
• Childrearing is a political act. Our political acts and the fact that some choose to rear children are not separate. We need to collectively recognize that parenting, mentoring, raising children, is not done in a vacuum, nor is it the sole responsibility of those that have chosen to parent children. All activists should take the time to interact with, be around, and teach our young.
• Actively including children makes it desirable for families to participate. In our family’s experience, we have been much more apt to attend meetings and events where childcare is announced as available. Our neighborhood social justice group always ensures childcare will be available; we often make a point of attending not only to attend the “adult” part of the event – a forum, documentary, etc. – but with the knowledge that our daughter will have a chance to play with some of her friends.
• Children bring unique and creative energy to movements. During a visit to Palestine, one of my most inspiring experiences was attending a children’s protest at an Israeli checkpoint near Nablus. Many of the village children got together at a community center and drew posters, practiced songs. With their parents and supporters looking on, this group of kids created an incredible moment of resistance.

This post is a very rough start in my effort to consider the relationship between the Left and children. I’d love to get feedback and perspectives to continue this conversation.

Tags: activism, children, families, intergenerational, Left

Posted in activism, Childrens' Rights, US politics