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Africa is the world's youngest continent, with the majority of its population under the age of 24. Although during the past decade the continent has experienced considerable economic growth, this has not translated into job creation and greater equity. Soaring unemployment rates have severely affected the younger generation especially; young people find it difficult to carve out a decent future. Most young Africans are living in a period of suspension between childhood and adulthood that I call 'waithood'. Youth in Africa, like their counterparts in Europe, North America, and other parts of the world, face similar crises of joblessness and restricted futures. Their struggles have driven many young Africans into the streets in protest movements that challenge the status quo and contest socioeconomic policies and governance strategies that exacerbate poverty, heighten social inequalities, and deny them basic freedoms. Young people have emerged as active social agents in the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, in the 'Y'en a Marre' (Enough is enough!) movement in Senegal, and in the food riots in Mozambique, counteracting the notion that youth are apathetic. What will be the result of these youth movements? Will young people be able to sustain them beyond streets protests and hold onto the promise for more equitable societies? This lecture examines the broad challenges facing young Africans today, particularly those relating to their socioeconomic position, citizenship, and political activism.

Alcinda Honwana, a scholar of international development, has just completed a book on the use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world. Her work focuses on Mozambique and Angola and points to aspects of neoliberalism and structural adjustment programs that have disrupted the abilities of families and communities to introduce children to and train them in the responsibilities of young adulthood. Societies with large numbers of children drawn into militias have the usual terrible post-conflict problems, but, in addition, have to reintegrate into useful life a potentially nihilistic generation of young people whose de facto rites of passage have been nothing short of diabolical.-M.S.

Today, child-soldiers are increasingly used in warfare. However, the very concept of a child-soldier contradicts established representations of childhood and their associated norms. The author argues that young warriors occupy interstitial social spaces - being caught between the adult and juvenile worlds - which condition their lifestyles. In these ambivalent spaces, child-soldiers are not devoid of agency; being both innocent and guilty, they are "tactical actors". (Polit afr/DÜI)

Im Verlauf des Bürgerkriegs, der in beiden Ländern stattgefunden hat, wurden viele Kinder aktiv an den Kämpfen beteiligt.Das Schicksal dieser Kindersoldaten wird hier im Kontext der Krise des postkolonialen Staates in Afrika verstanden. Kinder wurden aus verschiedenen Gründen in die Streitkräfte einbezogen (oft gezwungenermaßen und mit Hilfe traditioneller Autoritäten) und auf die Kampfeinsätze vorbereitet. Bei der Behandlung der hierdurch entstandenen Traumata erweisen sich westliche psychotherapeutische Ansätze als wenig sinnvoll, die Nutzung lokaler kultureller Traditionen erscheint erfolgversprechender. (DÜI-Wgm)

Most young Africans are living in a state of "waithood," argues Alcinda Honwana, finding themselves suspended in limbo 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 become fully participating members of society. But that is only part of the story. Examining the lives of young people in Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia, Honwana focuses on the transformative potential of the waithood generation--not only in Africa, but also globally--as young people come to believe that the struggle to overcome their predicament requires radical social and political change. From organizing protests in the streets of Maputo, Dakar, Madrid, and New York, to sparking revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the waithood generation, as we are reminded in The Time of Youth, is using its resources redress the wrongs of contemporary society.

Cover; About the author; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; Political parties and associations; Map of Tunisia; Introduction; First encounters; Encounters of occupation, resistance and liberation; The scope of the book; 1 Disconnections; Unequal regional development and massive unemployment; Corruption and nepotism; Political repression and lack of civil liberties; Modernisation and women's rights; Anti-Islamism and the quest for religious identity; Conclusions; 2 Mobilisation; Cyber activists; Unemployed university graduates; Civil society; Political parties; Conclusions

Most young Africans are living in a state of "waithood," argues Alcinda Honwana, finding themselves suspended in limbo 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 become fully participating members of society. But that is only part of the story. Examining the lives of young people in Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia, Honwana focuses on the transformative potential of the waithood generation—not only in Africa, but also globally—as young people come to believe that the struggle to overcome their predicament requires radical social and political change. From organizing protests in the streets of Maputo, Dakar, Madrid, and New York, to sparking revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the waithood generation, as we are reminded in The Time of Youth, is using its resources redress the wrongs of contemporary society

Analyzes the social and cultural impact of the Mozambican civil war (1976-92) upon the rural population; focus on the role that traditional practitioners can play in healing social wounds caused by the war.