The Responsibility Dance

Abstract

Governmentality scholars conceive freedom as characterized by individuals' self-governance through responsible and prudent subjectivities. However, scholars have paid little attention to children and whether childhood subjectivities are equally subject to the neoliberal expectation of responsible self-governance. This article analyses two Canadian juridical examples of the perceived relationship between government, foster families and foster children. It shows the perception of children as free — understood as rights-bearers — is undermined through a conception of children as family members. Children are shown to have no direct relationship with government due to juridical assertions that only families can turn children into (self-) responsible citizens.