Research Catalog

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

Title: The politics of work in a post-conflict state : youth, labour & violence in Sierra Leone / Luisa Enria.
Author: Enria, Luisa, 1988-
Publication: Woodbridge, Suffolk ; Rochester, NY : James Currey, 2018.

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Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	Sc E 18-701	Schomburg Center - Research & Reference

Details

Description

xiv, 264 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

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."--

Series Statement

Western Africa series

Uniform Title

Western Africa series.

Subject

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

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

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.

Call Number

Sc E 18-701

ISBN

9781847011985
1847011985

OCLC

1011173199

Author

Enria, Luisa, 1988- author.

Title

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

Publisher

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

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Western Africa series

Western Africa series.

Bibliography

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

Chronological Term

Since 1961

Research Call Number

Sc E 18-701

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