School institution and participation of the first age of life in the legislative debate in contemporary Argentina

Abstract

The enacting of laws amplifying political rights for teenagers in Argentina during2012 brought about the public confrontation of adult’s notions about the politicalprotagonism of this age group. Through a historical-ethnographic approach, this paperanalyzes the place assigned to school and the right to education, which emerge as centralarguments when deciding access to the vote. The article also exposes the heterogeneousrange of expectations assigned to the institution. Analysis of legislative debates, con-ceptualized as mixed sources, suggests the hypothesis according to which the school isnecessary for citizenship and at the same time impossible. The contradiction betweenthe state’s debt in guaranteeing youth citizenship and the inherently political nature of young people illustrates the difficulties in understanding this institution as a democraticspace co-produced by both adults and young people.