Thursday, September 29, 2016

Child Labor Protest Rhetoric

Esther Bae
Professor Brown
English 306
29 September 2016
Rhetoric of Protest Object

Let Kids Be Kids: A Rhetorical Analysis on Child Labor Protest
            The idea of letting “kids be kids” cannot be applied to the world’s entire underage population in the sense that the ongoing realism of child labor and often times, in forms of malpractice, seizes the opportunity of children, simply, being able to “be children.” Child labor goes beyond the non-exploitative scope of extreme poverty in homes where parents are compelled to inevitably send their kids to work; child labor involves the trafficking of children, creating a forced-labor situation that is exploitative and physically and emotionally harmful to the under-aged. In this photograph, victims of child labor – a practice prevalent in many underprivileged countries – are seen partaking in a protest in New Delhi, India for the passage of the Child and Adolescent Labor (Protection and Regulation) Bill (Malhotra). 







Figure 1. Child Laborers protesting for passage of Child and Adolescent Labor Bill. Altaf Qadri; Associated Press, 29 Aug. 2016.

             Child laborers across India gathered for the passage of this bill which contained regulations such as: prohibiting adolescents (14-18) from working in hazardous conditions, preventing children under the age of 14 of being employed, and placing stricter enforcement on employers including penalization for the first offense (The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Amendment Bill). Arms raised, fists clenched, mouths open, the loud shouts of the young are echoed in the image.
            Child labor – including the trafficking of children – is well alive in underdeveloped areas across the globe. Because of its wide-spread, accepted practice, child labor is not considered taboo in the local communities where this phenomenon takes place. While restrictions seem to somewhat interrupt its expansion, child labor is still ongoing – especially true in families anxious to make ends meet. Therefore, the children of the family are often separated from their parents and siblings, often give up the possibility of an education, and work in desolate conditions with meager pay, hungry for the idea of reuniting with their family once again.
            The photographer, Altaf Qadri, is an award-winning photojournalist and promoter of educating the world on current events, specifically with a focus on capturing stories in underdeveloped and war-torn countries such as Cambodia, Nepal, Afghanistan, and India (World Press Photo). Qadri, the creator of this object of protest, aims to gather response from its audience – most likely readers who keep up with current events, especially that of humanitarian matters, and advocates of journalism and the mediums in which stories are shared, particularly of Associated Press (Qadri’s agency). Presumably referring to the audience as people already knowledgeable on current events, Qadri’s purpose is to foster and educate on the topic of child labor in an affecting (and therefore, emotional) sense. The photograph reveals the protesting of a large, unified mass of children fighting against the misconducts of child labor and directing change (identities framed by the photograph) largely through Qadri’s strategic appeals to emotion (pathos) and credibility (ethos). This photograph is a multifaceted representation of the many dynamics of inequality present in underprivileged communities; the photo exposes not only angry child laborers, but the existence of a dominant authority taking advantage of young lives and inherently, their way of life, politicized (mal)practices, broken families, shattered dreams, and lost youth.
             Pathos, the appeal to emotion and chief rhetorical strategy used by Qadri, is stained on the faces of the young victims of human trafficking. Bold, eager, frustrated, and manipulated children with arms raised up high, small fists clenched, and mouths open in protest, all wear white hats to symbolize the unification of their identity. Key emotions can be identified on the faces of these children: indignation, courage, and grief – altogether, an expression for their desired yet simple pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. The exasperations of the exploited children can be vicariously felt by the audience: the viewers empathize with those subjugated under abusive authority, and particularly of those subjugated young. This photograph reveals the collective identities of child labor and unification for humanitarian change: evident are the frustrations of the children protesting for a liberal push for a stricter regulation of child labor. Instead of logical reasoning to support the identity in this piece of protest, emotional appeal provides a more effective and natural means of rhetor-audience interconnection.   
            While pathos is more evident in this protest object than ethos, the subtle but critical dynamics in the rhetor’s use of ethos such as: the children in the photograph being child laborers themselves and the photographer’s own identifying past as a self-exile allows for ethos to be a useful and convincing strategy for the rhetor. Qadri, the creator of this piece of protest, was in self-exile (a zealous form of private protest), and at a time in his life, had been held up in Libya during the Libyan Revolution (World Press Photo). Through this, raw connections between Qadri (an observer of the protest scene) and the captured identity in his photograph can be used to our understanding and acceptance of the rhetor – establishing credibility of the photographer and his mannerisms in displaying the inequity of child labor. Perhaps, the photograph is a reflection of his own identity when he, once too, protested against socio-political injustice – self-exile being the outcome (World Press Photo). Although, one may not be able to immediately connect this reasoning of Qadri (past-protester) and the children in his photograph (current-protester), it may be become evident to curious observers and even more so, to admirers of Qadri’s artwork.  Importantly, ethos is naturally embedded in the photograph by the children (the entire make-up of the photo) being child laborers themselves; they individually are identifiers of the collective identity. Therefore, Qadri’s use of capturing protest firsthand (both in the sense of being at the original scene and being able to connect with the child protesters at a personal level), is arguably a legitimate rhetorical strategy.
            Judging from a historical perspective, the object of protest was successful in its purpose seeing how the Child and Adolescent Labor (Protection and Regulation) Bill has been passed and cemented into law in 2016 (Gupta). The consummation period of this protest rhetoric has been manifested by the desired action (the resolution being passed from bill to law). Rhetorically speaking, the photograph was strong in its performance: candid in nature with a focus on the snapshot of young victims rebelling against child labor and demonstrating for change.    
           Generally, the public empathizes with the youth, especially, the very youth of youth – those who should be playing soccer in the neighborhood after the end of the school day rather than exchanging their safety and well-being for meager pay, long hours, and hazardous conditions. They have grown up into children of labor – not simply, “children” – period. The image of young protesters, also victims of human trafficking, pulls at the heartstrings of the concerned public because there is a distraction to this photograph. The unfortunate parallel between children and protester (and specifically, children as protesters) is suggestion to the inappropriateness of child labor: children have grown up into children of labor and into protesters, before they have had the opportunity to simply grow up – testimony to the effective use of pathos. Qadri’s framing of the photograph’s confines including the zoomed-in and clear image of a few children – particularly, of a little girl proudly protesting in the middle of the square – provides a statement to his rhetoric. Individually, the young girl is distinct from the others in the crowd – she has an identity to herself: Name, girl, daughter, perhaps sister or brother, native of her town, should-be student instead of laborer; but together, these children progressively protest in solidarity by sharing a collective identity – witness to Qadri’s individually effective style of capturing the perfect snapshot of a protest movement largely through intentional appeal to emotion.   










Works Cited
Malhotra, Aditi. Youngsters Protest Child Labor in New Delhi. Wall Street Journal Blog, Wall            Street Journal, 30 Aug. 2013,  http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/08/30/youngsters-       protest-child-labor-in-new-delhi/. Accessed 13 Sept. 2016.
---. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill. HRD/Labour/Health, PRS,         http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-child-labour-prohibition-and-regulation-       amendment-act-2012-2553/. Accessed 14 Sept. 2016.
World Press Photo. Altaf Qadri. World Press Photo, Associated Press, http://www.worldpressphoto.org/people/altaf-qadri. Accessed 28 Sept. 2016.  


No comments:

Post a Comment