MUDANÇAS HISTÓRICAS NA CONDIÇÃO DO TRABALHO INFANTIL

DO TRABALHO FAMILIAR A UM PROBLEMA SOCIAL

Abstract

The participation of children in community and family routines through work was a social fact in different cultures and historical periods. However, between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the exploitation of child labor began as part of the new labor relations in industrial societies, which made child labor a social problem with serious consequences for children, adolescents, and families. In this article, changes in the status of child labor are discussed from a historical perspective. Child labor, initially a family and domestic activity, when transformed into a serious social ill, required states and organizations to build regulatory frameworks and eradication strategies that were gradually implemented. Some pioneering movements in European countries and in the North American context are presented. Child labor in colonial Brazil and republican Brazil are also discussed. In the Brazilian case, the institution of the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) represented a significant milestone in guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents and was an important legal instrument in the fight against child labor. However, it is argued that tensions have been generated since a prohibitive and supervisory perspective of child labor can imply clashes with cultural practices based on work and which have the participation of children.