Playing for social equality

Abstract

This paper claims that the protection of children's capability for play is a central socialpolitical goal. It provides the following three-premise argument in defence of this claim: (i) we have strong and wide-ranging normative reasons to be concerned with clusters of social deficiency; (ii) particular fertile functionings play a key role for tackling clusters of social deficiency; and finally (iii) the capability for childhood play is a crucial, ontogenetic prerequisite for the development of those particular fertile functionings. Thus, in so far as we consider it a central political goal to tackle social deficiency, we should be concerned with protection of childhood play capability. This conclusion raises new insights on the importance-for global development policy as well as for welfare states' aim to secure social justice-of protecting children's capability to engage in playful activities.

Børneleg som legepraksis: en aristotelisk forståelse af legens værdi

“…Men legen har også afgørende instrumentelle vaerdiaspekter, der er vaesentlige at fremhaeve. Det kan måske i nogle sammenhaenge vaere upopulaert at fremhaeve disse vaerdiaspekter, fordi det synes at give leg en uheldig instrumentel karakter -noget som skal fremmes for dets samfundsnyttige vaerdi -men jeg mener modsat, at det er helt afgørende at huske på, at leg ikke blot er leg, men også er noget, som vi bør vaerdsaette og fremelske for alle dets gode konsekvenser (Nussbaum 2000;Luntley 2018;Nielsen 2018).…”

“…Her har vi således et argument for legens centrale status som et ikke blot socialt, men også et politisk mål. Fordi legekundskaber i barndommen er afgørende for udviklingen af personlige såvel som sociale kompetencer, så kan legen på langt sigt vaere med til at styrke vores samfund nedefra og bidrage til at bekaempe ulighed ved at udvikle de socialt udsattes evne til at stå imod sociale underskud og trusler (Nielsen 2018).…”

Teach Them to Play! Educational Justice and the Capability for Childhood Play

“…But this implies that, not only is childhood play politically important due to its influence on education and social determinant of health; it is also especially important through its impact on people's capabilities for coping with social disadvantages. In other words, what an appropriate system for healthy and creatively developing childhood play can do is not merely to enhance educational performance and secure a more appropriate distribution of social determinants of health and wellbeing, it may also plainly protect against social inequality (Nielsen 2018). This, importantly, provides us with a separate and hence additional reason to employ the social institutional system in the protection of childhood play.…”