The time of youth : work, social change, and politics in Africa / Alcinda M. Honwana.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Honwana, Alcinda Manuel.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Young adults--Africa--Economic conditions--21st century.

Young adults.

Young adults--Africa--Social conditions--21st century.

Young adults--Employment--Africa.

Unemployed youth--Africa.

Unemployed youth.

Economic conditions.

Young adults--Employment.

Social conditions.

Africa--Economic conditions--21st century.

Africa.

Africa--Social conditions--21st century.

Physical Description:

xiv, 222 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Sterling, Va. : Kumarian Press : Imprint of Stylus Pub., 2012.

Summary:

Most young Africans are living in "waithood," a period of suspension between childhood and adulthood. Failed neoliberal economic policies, bad governance, and political instability have caused stable jobs to disappear; and without jobs that pay living wages, these young people cannot support families and thus are never able to become fully participating members of society. As this limbo becomes pervasive and prolonged, waithood in Africa becomes seemingly permanent, gradually replacing conventional adulthood. With the deepening of the world economic crisis, youths in Europe, North America, and other parts of the world now face the same crisis of unemployment and restricted futures.

In The Time of Youth, Alcinda Honwana examines the lives of young people in Africa, drawing on in-depth interviews in four countries: Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia. While these case studies are local to Africa, the book argues that the "waithood generation" is global, and possesses tremendous transformative potential, as young people believe the struggle to overcome their predicament requires radical social and political change. From organizing protests in the streets of Maputo, Dakar, Madrid, London, New York, and Santiago, to sparking revolutions that have overthrown dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the waithood generation is using its resources to redress the wrongs of contemporary society and remake the world. Book jacket.

Contents:

Youth

Waithood

Aspirations

Getting by

Intimacy

Citizenship

Social change

Global waithood.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781565494718

1565494717

9781565494725

1565494725

9781565494732

1565494733

9781565494749

1565494741

OCLC:

772102433