Children and Youth in Africa: Annotated Bibliography 2001–2011

Authors

Mwenda Ntarangwi 

Synopsis

CODESRIA, 2014, 204 p., ISBN: 978-2-86978-587-8

This annotated bibliography provides a summary of scholarly work on children and youth in Africa published between 2001 and 2011. It draws from journal articles, monographs, and book chapters. This rich resource for scholars presents publications with a wide range of approaches to child and youth studies. Some scholars question certain views of children especially when it comes to their own agency and full participation in socioeconomic production at the household level. The idea that children are vulnerable social subjects is the predominant view that shaped much of the research reported on in this volume. Western restrictions, on specific age limits, that govern children’s participation in work or labour, whether paid or not, and the subsequent rights that go along with them are often not easily translatable to many African contexts. This creates a kind of separation between African and Western scholars in their study and understanding of children. The overwhelming focus of research published on HIV/AIDS and orphans, violence and child-soldiers, children’s rights, and street children, demonstrates the continued interest regarding children as vulnerable and in need of adult protection. Focusing on the vulnerability of children in Africa appears to be a result of the construction of childhood in terms of modern (mostly) Western perceptions which are based on chronological age mainly. This book is very important for all scholars working on children and the youth in Africa.

 

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Author Biography

Mwenda Ntarangwi 

holds a doctorate in cultural anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and teaches at Calvin College, Michigan, USA. His research and teaching focus mainly on cross-cultural education as well as the intersection between culture and performance especially as experienced and expressed by youth. His most recent publications include: Reversed Gaze: An African Ethnography of American Anthropology (Illinois, 2010), East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization (Illinois, 2009). He is also editor of Jesus and Ubuntu: Exploring the Social Impact of Christianity in Africa (Africa World Press, 2011), and guest editor of a special issue of Africa Development (Vol. 37 No. 3) on the theme: “Parent’s Involvement in Children’s Lives in Africa” (CODESRIA, 2012).

 

Published

January 9, 2014