Children and adolescents in Brazil: between full protection and actual lack of protection

Abstract

By opening issue no. 61 of Em Pauta: social theory and contemporary reality with the thematic dossier “Social Work, Children, and Adolescents,” this text aims to instigate and deepen reflections regarding the rights of children and adolescents in Brazil. It addresses, from a critical perspective, the paradox between the full protection established in legislation—specifically the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) —and the non-implementation and/or violation of these same rights. In reality, this paradox unveils the lack of protection for the next generations of workers, which is inherent to the maintenance and reproduction of capitalist social relations of production.