Working children in Latin America: Disputes over labor prohibition

Abstract

This article discusses child labour, based on the movement of working children and adolescents in Latin America. The paper is the result of bibliographic research carried out between 2024 and 2025 as part of a sandwich doctorate at the Bolivian Catholic University, under file number 88881.982415/2024-01. The study problematises the official reproduction of the discourse on the eradication of child labour and the social protection of children and adolescents and presents a counter-hegemonic model: the movement of working children and adolescents in Bolivia, which announces a perspective of critical valuation of labour and confronts the official discourse of the United Nations and its agencies. Furthermore, the movement is fighting to guarantee work and a dignified life for young workers, a reflection that is necessary for social workers to question an official ideological discourse reproduced by international organizations.