Social participation and protagonism: Reflections fron the Conference of the Rights of Children’s and adolescent in Brazil

This paper examines the children and young people's participation and protagonism rights based on the Conferences on Children and Adolescents Rights' experience in Brazil, based on childhood sociology. Conferences' documents were consulted on the Brazilian government websites. These study findings revealed that young people's participation has increased in the last conferences. However, it is necessary to promote a systematic and genuine participation through democratic relations construction in all development contexts where childrenand adolescent live in order to modify their life and society participative practices.

The region: territorial organization of modernity

Region is a concept that has been used to describe, analyze and organize spaces. The concept has classical roots, and throughout history has been adapted to serve academic, governmental and planning purposes. This article analyzes the concept’s evolution, from social sciences in general, with an emphasis on a geographical focus. It also frames Latin American ideas in an international  discussion where the French, German and Anglo-Saxon school have been important. And in order  to understand the various theoretical and methodological approaches, it follows an historical overview. Finally, the text explores the way in which the concept was received and used in Latin  America, both by scholars and planners.