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Introduction

Why Investigate Urban Youth Citizenship in Africa?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2023

Amy S. Patterson
Affiliation:
University of the South, Tennessee
Tracy Kuperus
Affiliation:
Calvin University, Michigan
Megan Hershey
Affiliation:
Whitworth University, Washington
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Summary

The book explores youth citizenship in the African cities of Accra, Ghana; Kampala, Uganda; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. As a significant portion of African populations, youth understand citizenship to be distinct, localized, and dynamic. Rapid urbanization – with its accompanying challenges of overcrowding, insufficient infrastructure, and unemployment – conditions youth citizenship actions and identities. Defined as people eighteen to thirty-five years old, youth reflect a citizenship shaped by neoliberal economic policies that constrain economic opportunities and a neoliberal discourse that fosters themes of responsibility and individualism. Youth citizenship manifests in contexts of political uncertainty, with democratic transitions in many countries stalled and elders often seeking to mobilize – and potentially control – youth public engagement. Despite such challenges, youth in this study chose to act through a variety of public and private means to secure their belonging and assert their rights and responsibilities in the community and the country. As agents, youth negotiate citizenship in light of their various religious, gender, and economic identities through a variety of daily experiences and relationships in the community and their interactions with the state.

Type
Chapter
Information
Africa's Urban Youth
Challenging Marginalization, Claiming Citizenship
, pp. 1 - 12
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Introduction
  • Amy S. Patterson, University of the South, Tennessee, Tracy Kuperus, Calvin University, Michigan, Megan Hershey, Whitworth University, Washington
  • Book: Africa's Urban Youth
  • Online publication: 10 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009235136.001
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  • Introduction
  • Amy S. Patterson, University of the South, Tennessee, Tracy Kuperus, Calvin University, Michigan, Megan Hershey, Whitworth University, Washington
  • Book: Africa's Urban Youth
  • Online publication: 10 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009235136.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Amy S. Patterson, University of the South, Tennessee, Tracy Kuperus, Calvin University, Michigan, Megan Hershey, Whitworth University, Washington
  • Book: Africa's Urban Youth
  • Online publication: 10 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009235136.001
Available formats
×