In this memo I would like to
focus on one of the recommended articles that I found the most inspiring,
namely Alcinda Honwana‘s “Enough is
Enough!”: Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa. This article is
fairly different from most articles we get to read for lectures, as it is a transcript
of a lecture given by the author at the University of Free State. It is also
interesting, since the author mentions recent attacks against Mozambicans that
occurred in South Africa, while speaking at a conference in South Africa. I
believe this to be an important circumstance that gives the entire speech extra
gravity and context. Everything is linked with everything.
The analysis is based on
interviews with young people in Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. Honwana
shares three major points on the problems of African youth. First, she
introduces waithood as a period of
life between childhood and adulthood, where a person is simply waiting to become
adult in the eyes of society (being adults by age, but not yet a full member of
the society in terms of being fiscally responsible, having a steady job, family
etc.). Therefore, while a 30-something old with no steady job and without own
family is considered to be a part of the African youth, while a 10 year old
that becomes a soldier or laborer is considered an adult. Honwana shares an
observation, that while the people in waithood
are often perceived as people who simply don’t try, it might not be completely
true. Honwana states that these people who are “stuck” with their lives at the
edge of adulthood are, in fact, trying to move forward, interact with their
neighborhood and overcome the constraints of their surroundings and society. It
does not help that the young people’s expectations are higher nowadays (they
might expect better work opportunities, better pay, but they won’t necessarily
be able to reach those, thus making them metaphorically stuck in waithood).
Second observation is that in
the last few years young people are getting more involved in political life in
their countries. The author blames this on the pressure that the society puts
on the youth. Third observation is that while the youth movements can be quite
powerful, they don’t have much luck with translating this into political power.
Therefore, the author asks, how can young people in Africa get in the politics
and change the political situation in their countries. She later points out the
efforts of the young generation to change things through unusual channels, such
as social media and the virtual world in general. On this topic, I would like
to say that not everyone can go change politics in the regular way, but
everyone can participate in social media. I believe the social media to be a
powerful tool, if handled properly.
In the analysis, Honwana
mentions that “men face the pressures of getting a steady job, finding a home,
and covering the costs of marriage and family building. Although women are
becoming better educated and have always engaged in productive labour alongside
household chores, marriage and motherhood are still the most important markers
of adulthood. While giving birth may provide girls an entry into adulthood,
their ability to attain full adult status often depends on men moving beyond
waithood.”[1] I
feel like this should be explained further. Does this mean that in the author’s
opinion, a woman is stuck in waithood even if she is a mother, has a stable job
and is capable to provide for her children, but her husband/partner doesn’t
have a steady income? This might be the feminist talking, but I don’t feel like
the lack of a partner providing support has to mean that a woman can’t be
considered adult in the way mentioned above. In a way I feel like a woman, who
is taking care of her family by herself (or with minor help from her partner)
is forced to be more adult than most. At the same time I would like to argue
that being married shouldn’t be one of the criteria of entering adulthood. In
the 21st century, marriage is not considered necessary by the young population
all over the world and I don’t think that Africa’s youth is that much
different. Provided, the societal restrictions might be tougher than those in
other parts of the world, but I am sure that not everyone wants to get married
in Africa. Therefore, rather than entering marriage, the criteria could be
changed to a responsible relationship towards one’s children - you don’t have
to be married to provide for your family.
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