The politics of work in a post-conflict state : youth, labour & violence in Sierra Leone / Luisa Enria.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Enria, Luisa, 1988- author.

Series:

Western Africa series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Youth--Employment--Sierra Leone--Freetown.

Youth.

Unemployed youth--Sierra Leone--Freetown.

Unemployed youth.

Violence--Sierra Leone--Freetown.

Violence.

Youth--Political activity--Sierra Leone--Freetown.

Economic history.

Youth--Employment.

Youth--Political activity.

Sierra Leone--Economic conditions--1961-.

Sierra Leone.

Economic conditions.

Sierra Leone--History--Civil War, 1991-2002.

History.

Sierra Leone--Freetown.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 264 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge, Suffolk ; Rochester, NY : James Currey, 2018.

Summary:

"High youth unemployment is seen as a major issue across Africa and globally, not solely as a source of concern for economic development, but as a threat to social stability and a challenge to fragile peace. In countries emerging from civil war in particular, it is identified as a key indicator for likelihood of relapse. But what do we really know about how lack of work shapes political identities and motivates youth violence? Drawing on rich empirical data about young people on the margins of the informal economy in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, in the wake of its civil war (1991-2002), this book moves beyond reductive portrayals of unemployed youth as "ticking bombs" to show how labour market experiences influence them towards political mobilisation. The author argues that violence is not inherent to unemployment, but that the impact of joblessness on political activism is mediated by social factors and the specific nature of the post-war political economy. For Freetown's youth, labour market exclusion is seen to have implications for social status, identities and social relations, ultimately keeping them in exploitative patterns of dependence. This in turn shapes their political subjectivities and claims on the state, and structures the opportunities and constraints to their collective action."-- Publisher's website.

Contents:

Labour & networks in the making of modern Sierra Leone

Urban microcosms : defining work at the margins of the city

'They don't even see us as people' : the social life of labour markets

Associations, citizenship claims & the political imagination

Love & betrayal : the moral economy of political violence

Conclusion : from ticking bombs to a politics of work

The ebola epilogue : chronic crisis, youth & the state.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-260) and index.

ISBN:

9781847011985

1847011985

OCLC:

1011173199

Publisher Number:

99979275408