Cartographic representations of childhood: demands for existential justice in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

This article reflects on the narratives of children who move around the city of Rio de Janeiro. This means considering the movements of their pupils, who live in different regions of the metropolitan area, and the relationships we establish with our spaces. In an attempt to understand children's ways of experiencing the urban spatial model and their singularities, there is a need to study daily routes and territories. The idea of research with children implies a horizontal political option, based on the spatialization of the lives of two students. Vygotsky, a theorist from the cultural-historical perspective, was an important interlocutor in understanding children as beings of language, establishing an understanding of the geography of childhood that concerns the thought of the human condition situated in space and time. The methodology employed was qualitative research based on observing and recording children's spatial experiences through conversation circles with students from an elementary school. The research made it possible to identify the children's places that make up the city and their demands for existential justice.