Children and Places, from the Viewpoint of Their Human Relations, in the Streets and Alleys of a Cambodian Resettlement Area

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  • 対人関係からみた子どもと場所 : カンボジア・スラム再定住地区のみちにおける事例から
  • タイジン カンケイ カラ ミタ コドモ ト バショ : カンボジア ・ スラム サイテイジュウ チク ノ ミチ ニ オケル ジレイ カラ

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Abstract

In this paper, I have focused on the case of resettlement area ("area A") for people living in a slum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and analyze the condition of the children in the area's alleys and streets from the viewpoint of their human relations. In the alleys in area A, many adult residents do side jobs under the eaves of their houses, and the children play around them. They spend most of the daytime there, and know who is present or absent, also knowing about each other's lives. At the same time, they discriminate against people from outside of the alley space. The residents' awareness of each other and their discrimination against outsiders make the relations between the children and the residents in the alley space more protective. Meanwhile, on the streets of area A, there is great movement of people and vehicles. The children on the streets-on their way to or from the elementary school or market-are not aware of where each person on the streets is from, nor do they know who each person is. They don't even try to know. On the streets, therefore, the children and the persons see and hear each other, but don't interfere with each other. So the relations between the children and the persons on the streets are anonymous, based on not knowing or interfering with each other. More, alleys and streets have each "projections" -vacancies in the former and stands in the latter-in which different relations arise, complicating the situation of the children there. Children in alley vacancies are separated from the adult residents who own those places, but protective relations are still kept. While continuous vacancies connect two different alleys, and the children from the two alley spaces, the children don't stray far. The children moving on streets, meanwhile, often stop at street stands around which the people living nearby gather. During their temporary stops at the stands, the children hear and see the talking and interactions among the residents without discrimination, but don't interfere with them. If they visit a stand continuously, they often become familiar with it and the people there, at which point they transcend the anonymous relationship and join in the interactions with the people. As for my conclusion, the children in area A move around different places each day, establishing human relations with different people. Moreover, they not only move around and experience existing places, but also create new places with new human relations, which emerge as the "projections" of those places.

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