Nomadic boat‐dwelling children of Southeast Asia: discourses on the Sama‐Bajau children and implications on decentring child migration studies

Aireen Grace Andal

doi:10.1111/chso.12686

Nomadic boat‐dwelling children of Southeast Asia: discourses on the Sama‐Bajau children and implications on decentring child migration studies

Aireen Grace Andal

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1 Citation (Scopus)

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Abstract

This article examines the discursive narratives in academic literature about the nomadic boat-dwelling children of the Sama-Bajau group in Southeast Asia. Through examining academic literature from 1989 to 2021, this paper explores how the literature shapes and mediates the narratives about Sama-Bajau children. Findings suggest two threads of discursive narratives—one takes a developmentalist lens, and the other offers alternative narratives that reveal the complex identities of Sama-Bajau children. These observations highlight the importance of nuanced conversations on child sea nomadism towards further developments of critical childhood studies on child migration in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	652-668
Number of pages	17
Journal	Children and Society
Volume	39
Issue number	3
Early online date	26 Jan 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12686
Publication status	Published - May 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2023. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

childhood
children
children's culture
ethnicity
global South

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10.1111/chso.12686

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 540 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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Nomadic boat‐dwelling children of Southeast Asia: discourses on the Sama‐Bajau children and implications on decentring child migration studies

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Keywords

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