Children and Childhood on the Borderland of Desired Peace and Undesired War: A Case of Ukraine

This chapter presents the results of research based on theoretical studies concerning childhood and war in general as well as theoretical analyses of the situation of children during the period of the war since 2014 in the occupied parts of Ukraine,with a particular focus on Donbas, and Crimea (defined in international political jargon as territories under effective control). The methodology of the research consisted of theoretical analysis and expert assessment. The chapter addresses a multifaceted (political, social, and cultural) militarisation of childhood in an era of ascendant authoritarianism analysed from the perspective of individuals who are invisible and voiceless in global media discourse. It reveals significant changes in the lives of children directly and indirectly affected by the war, those living in the ‘grey zones’ along the front-line in Donbas, and the occupied Crimea. The chapter also describes real fragments of the histories of children and their families who suffered through the war in Ukraine. Above all, it draws attention to how rapidly the militarisation of childhood can occur in a society affected by war and how rapidly the war changes social expectations regarding children. The chapter undertakes an analysis of oppressive, inadequate, and undesirable practices connected with educational militarization affecting the construction of childhood in daily life on the borderland of desired peace and undesired war.