Political Crisis and ECOWAS Mediation 29 Conclusion The aim of the present study has been to shed light on the ways in which international diplomatic engagement helped avert civil war in the Republic of Guinea and place the country on the path to democracy and constitutional governance.
The process and its outcome exemplify the strengths and weaknesses of intra-African crisis management as well as the uncertainties that often surround the involvement of global stakeholders in the management of crises in Africa. Nevertheless, one cannot help but also take into account the concerns of Guinean analysts who the fact that it took so much violence and suffering, much of which could have been prevented, for Guineans to get where they are today.
Nor can one hastily dismiss the questions raised by such analysts whether the international community has been more concerned about preventing worst case scenarios and less interested in attaining best case scenarios while managing crises in Africa Mombeya Diallo Whatever the truth, the ECOWAS-mediated crisis management and political transition in Guinea ought to be understood as an international effort involving the African Union and the United Nations system as well as the United States, the European Union as a whole, and individual countries therein.
Progress made as a result of that successful effort includes the opportunity that Guinea has had to rebuild its international standing including the reinstatement of full membership in ECOWAS and the African Union, the lifting of the arms embargo and economic sanctions imposed by the international community during the CNDD rule and, quite significantly, the ability to keep the military out of politics for the first time since These challenges become all the more conspicuous with the first presidential elections of the post-transition period being slated for November Political Crisis and ECOWAS Mediation 31 Though no longer ruled by a volatile military junta, Guineans continue to struggle under a regime plagued by lack of rule of law and government accountability, widespread organized crime and dearth of public safety, the deepening of ethnic division and prevalence of nepotism, the predominance of a Mafia-like culture of corruption and mismanagement of national resources, and continued economic hardship.
That may well be! Nonetheless, the cases of post-genocide Rwanda, post-civil war Angola, and post-apartheid South Africa have demonstrated that although some expectations take time to fulfill, not only do traumatized citizenries hold high expectations as a sense of self-worth and a survival mechanism, but also it is perfectly reasonable to hold post-conflict or post-trauma governments to account for the timely restoration of certain fundamental values and fulfillment of certain basic needs. Also, the question whether things would have been different had Cellou Dalein Diallo been elected president in does have some value.
Obviously, due to its hypothetical nature any tentative answer to the question could only be a speculation. Would this background prove to be an asset or a liability, in the event Diallo accedes to the presidency? Only time will tell. In the final analysis, it is doubtful whether the international community, including ECOWAS, is to blame for the disastrous outcome of the otherwise highly anticipated political transition. Equally debatable is the allegation that France and Germany had a hand in the physical incapacitation of Capt.
Camara and his subsequent political ostracizing. We have learned, though, from confidential diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks that both France and the US were involved in his banishment. Regardless, the Guinean people are ultimately responsible for their destiny and no international efforts can be a viable substitute for the sovereign exercise of that responsibility.
That is, whether African states have the ability to promote long-term human security within the framework of the existing nation-states. With human security being understood as the safety and well-being of individuals, families and communities in areas as vital as food, health, environment, political freedom and participation, cultural integrity, and education, the prevailing notion of state security has proved to constitute an obstacle to people- centered security in increasingly more cases.
Bibliography Print Sources Arieff, Alexis Journal of Modern African Studies 47 3: Arieff, Alexis and Nicolas Cook Background and Relations with the United States. Conflict and Cooperation in West Africa. Onwuka and Amadu Sesay eds. The Future of Regionalism in West Africa. Camara, Mohamed Saliou Historical Dictionary of Guinea Fifth Edition. Diallo, Boubacar Yacine Forgotten Children of War: Sierra Leonean Refugee Children in Guinea. Timeline - toward peace and prosperity? Roger, Olivier interviewer December The Associated Press Guinea massacre is crime against humanity, http: Fundamental Law of the Second Republic of Guinea, , http: Wikileaks January 8, The way forward, https: Personal communications with the author.
Abdoulaye Mombeya Diallo is a Guinean journalist. Personal communications with the author, July Conakry. Personal communications with the author, January Conakry. Charles-Pascal Tolno is a professional educator, having worked as college professor and dean of the Donka Faculty of Social Sciences in Conakry.
He served as governor of Conakry from to and minister of Higher Education from to Personal communications with the author, Conakry. Interview with the author, January Conakry. Fanta Oulen Bakary Camara is a police commissioner in Conakry. At the time of our personal communication July , Conakry he was director of the National Agency for the Protection of Women and Children. He co-led the February mutiny. Nafa Diallo Captain served as an artillery officer in and during the anti- rebellion campaign in Guinea. Personal communication with the author, June Conakry.
At the time of our latest conversations July , Conakry , she was serving as president of the CNT. The aim is to gain insight into modes of political articulations that are hardly visible, hence difficult to grasp and analyse. I illustrate that market women, despite not forming a strong network, are able to put pressure on the local government by their sheer number and can thus sometimes pursue their goals. I propose to focus on the daily lives of marginalised individuals or groups, in this case market women, who do not have access to channels and means to voice their interests so as to reveal their modes of political agency.
It is a Muslim religious centre known for its trading activities. This contribution focuses on women selling at Dibida market. Many of these women live from hand to mouth spending the money they earn during the day on their evening meal. This makes them especially vulnerable to governmental interventions, such as the closing of the markets or the displacement of ambulant vendors.
The data for this article was gathered during two long-term field trips in Guinea between September and February eleven months in total. First, I mapped the actors, their physical and social environment Lefebvre , and how these actors relate to each other. Much information was gathered through systematic participation in and observation of these spheres. Market Women and the Local Government 39 local government.
I therefore spent many hours sitting on hard benches besides market women listening and observing what was going on around me. Additionally, informal conversations, group discussions, and a few narrative interviews gave important insights into experiences, expectations, and practices of these vendors. Steady , in her book on female leadership in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, ignores political activities of women outside the institutional political sphere. However, four authors laudably treat this subject: Osborn elaborates on the influence of households on politics in the Milo River Valley between and Both authors illustrate how market women were among the rare voices opposing the regime during protests in The author thanks Michelle Engeler, Johannes Knierzinger, and two reviewers for comments on an earlier version of this article.
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Special thanks go to my two research assistants who translated the statements of my non-formally educated informants from Mande and Pulaar to French. All translations to English are by the author. I have structured the paper into four sections: First, I illustrate why the state cannot be regarded as a single actor with clear boundaries. I also argue that we have to look beyond advocacy politics in order to grasp and analyse various modes of political agency of marginalized individuals and groups. Here, two instances are used as examples: In February , the local government decided to banish ambulant vendors from selling their commodities on a market road.
In the last part, the results are summarized. Looking at the state and political articulations Guinea is divided into four administrational regions, 34 prefectures, and sub-prefectures Camara et al. The city of Kankan as the administrative centre of the Upper Guinea Region has a governorate, a prefecture, and a municipality. Formally, the responsibilities of each institution are determined. In reality, however, they intermingle.
This illustrates that the state is not a single actor and cannot be separated from society. Market Women and the Local Government 41 by various individuals, groups, and institutions Kerkvliet Bargaining occurs on a daily basis between two or more persons, groups, or institutions.
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It does not necessarily contain a mutual, oral agreement — on the contrary, most bargaining processes are nonverbal. While the bureaucrats see themselves as citizens confronted with the same everyday hardship the strikers protest against, they actually represent the very state addressed by the objectors. Before doing so, I first elaborate on the continuum between everyday politics and advocacy politics that helps grasping different forms of political activities.
So everything that is political does not interest us. We are already afraid if someone mentions politics. Especially women who have not been to school are not really interested in politics. They say everything is expensive. The prices must be reduced. The quotations also demonstrate that women who do not frequent one of the political parties typically do not see themselves as political actors cf. Thus, everyone can be a political 5The attitude of considering politics as a dirty, dishonest, immoral, and corrupt business is not specific to women in Kankan. It can be found in different places and contexts cf.
My understanding of everyday politics follows Kerkvliet: It includes quiet, mundane, and subtle expressions and acts that indirectly and for the most part privately endorse, modify, or resist prevailing procedures, rules, regulations, or order. Everyday politics involves little or no organization.
It features the activities of individuals and small groups as they make a living, raise their families, wrestle with daily problems, deal with others like themselves who are relatively powerless and with powerful superiors and other. As the continuum indicates, this boundary is fluid. Further, the orientation of political articulations can shift quickly: Everyday politics can easily merge into advocacy politics and vice versa.
The characteristics of everyday politics are that people do not see themselves as political actors and are usually unaware of their political articulations. Conscious claim making, on the contrary, is an integral part of advocacy politics. In her analysis on politics between the seventeenth and the nineteenth century, Osborn emphasises that household building had highly influenced state building in the Milo River Valley.
In addition, various laws were adopted to improve the situation of women: Marriage under the age of 17 was prohibited, the high bride-wealth was 8 This is no Guinean particularity. Market Women and the Local Government 45 reduced and fixed Doumbouya On the one hand, women vigorously took part in the various entities of the PDG. This engagement gave them a feeling of being integrated into the nation-building process. On the other hand, this does not mean that the regime invited women to look for solutions to their problems.
Instead, the party was setting the agenda that women had to follow. Moreover, the different women-committees were an effective means to control the female population. In reality, however, the situation looks quite different: Officially, he himself had two wives. This was also the case in Guinea. Schmidt has a different standpoint. Market Women and the Local Government 47 mobilisation.
If I put on fire it is under the cooking pot for nourishing my children. But in Guinea the cooking pot is empty. It was their superficially apolitical character that made these claims legitimate Pauthier During the presidential elections of , the political and social atmosphere in Guinea was tense International Crisis Group In Kankan, the Association of Female Leaders helped appeasing these tensions: Secondly, they went to see the senior members doyens of each ethnic group. The leader of the association stressed that this had not been an easy task, as women in Guinea usually do not get involved in political issues.
Do not kill our children! When asked about their role as women in regard to conflict resolution, a member of the association answered: It is our duty as spouses, as mothers, because we are stabbed one way or the other. If it is not our husband, it is our children, our brothers. We are more involved than these men.
Both consider their actions as advocacy politics. However, they justify it by referring to their domestic roles. Some encounters take place on a regular basis, such as tax collection. Others are quite unpredictable, for example food inspections. For the purpose of this paper, I elaborate on two examples of interrelations between women selling at Dibida market and the local government, namely tax collection and the closing of a road next to the market.
On Dibida, similar to other markets, all aspects of a human life are discussed and gossip is everywhere cf. Many conversations are centred around family issues and local norms such as marriage, illegitimate pregnancy, and both male and female demeanour within matrimony, followed by debates on shifting realities, religion, and the latest news.
Elderly people accuse youth of taking drugs and not listening to their parents anymore. Further, many conversations centre on the rice quality. Market women complain about the costs of living, putting a special focus on the high food prices, before turning to their final subject of controversy, namely lacking governmental support. It is a closed area whose high ceiling ensures bearable temperatures.
Vendors inside the market offer food on tables. Some sell vegetables from their own garden near the Milo River that crosses Kankan, others sell imported rice, fruits from the Forest Region, onions from Mali, etc. Even outside the market, people continue selling items on stands or blankets on the soil. There, the vendors not only sell food, but also other items such as cosmetics and second-hand clothes.
Further, there are many ambulant vendors. Women constitute the large majority of the vendors, though men occupy some of the tables too. Contrary to their female counterparts, they usually sell non- perishable goods. Market women are usually depicted as rather poor and uneducated; however, they do not constitute a homogenous category. The most prominent distinction among them is their ethnic background. Hereby, the actual age is not that important — many do not even exactly know it. Women who are considered to be elderly are associated with more experience and wisdom and have therefore more authority than younger women.
If there is, for example, a quarrel in the market, elderly women are consulted. Further, a differentiation in regard to economic background has to be made: The religious background of the vendors is of minor importance, as, in Kankan, religion is usually not an issue of contestation. Other events such as food inspection or the closing of the markets on special occasions — due to the arrival of an important governmental person — are quite unforeseeable. Market women are typical victims of harassment cf.
If someone disregards a regulation, or if the inspecting person decides, the commodities of the corresponding market woman are to be seized and brought to the market office. There, with the help of family members or friends, she has to bargain with members of the market office to free the seized commodities. Market Women and the Local Government 51 procedures of these instances are unclear and therefore give representatives of the local government a looming presence enhancing their authority.
One possibility of exerting authority is through tax collection. All vendors at Dibida market have to pay Guinean francs FG a day. During a conversation in , a shoe vendor explained that the tax she has to pay felt like a rent to her, as the place was governmental property. Members of the market office employed by the municipality collected the tax every third day.
My informants told me that they let Sebebilala keep the respective change of FG, a practice that seemed to be accepted by all vendors I talked to. She explained that if a woman happened to be absent from the market for some time because of family obligations, illness, or because she had travelled, Sebebilala would not complain about the missing taxes, nor would he confiscate her commodities or give the table to someone else, as would be the official requirement.
Typically, men working at 14Officially, all vendors have to pay this tax regardless of the size of their market stands. This theoretically also holds true for ambulant vendors. In practice, however, they easily avoid the tax collectors due to their mobility. Personal relations with tax collectors can result in tax remission. My informants consider it unbecoming for a head of family to wander through the market quarrelling with women all day long in order to collect taxes. Sebebilala, however, due to his behaviour, is seen differently.
The market women give Sebebilala an additional FG every third day — almost twice the amount of the official tax — thus paying a part of his salary. The tax collector, in return, turns a blind eye on vendors disregarding official regulations. The vendors do not consider their action as political and thus, it can be categorized as everyday politics. Nevertheless, it has an impact on the behaviour of the local government insofar as Sebebilala, despite ignoring official guidelines, is not replaced. Our concerns are not taken seriously. Further, the local government should build up infrastructure; deliver basic services, such as education, health, and electricity; provide micro credits; and create jobs.
Above all, the interviewees claimed lower food prices. In February , the municipality decided to unblock the road around Dibida market that directly leads to the central bus station. Normally, the road is crowded with market stalls. Some women illegally sell their commodities with clothes spread on the floor and 15By imaginary I understand collectively shared images of how things should look like, that is the shared conceptions of a society Castoriadis Market Women and the Local Government 53 ambulant vendors16 carry goods in pushcarts or on their heads, which makes it difficult for cars and motorcycles to get through, resulting in numerous accidents.
The problem of women illegally selling on the street had been an old but still unsolved one, a member of the market office explained conversation, The information that the market women were to unblock the road spread through various channels: They were then to pass the message to the market women. Obviously, the message spread rapidly by word of mouth among the market sellers. Nevertheless, some affected women reported that they had not been informed beforehand.
Whenever such problems arise at Dibida market, the vendors first discuss it with the market chief. If necessary, the latter accompanied by some vendors then goes to the municipality in order to find a solution for the difficulties at hand. The reluctance of these market women to clean the road has widely been debated by members of the local government. Fode Quatre told me that there was enough space in the market for those selling their commodities illegally outside. Some of them even had a table inside the market, but they were convinced to sell more quickly if they were placed outside the market walls, Fode Quatre lamented.
Some women selling inside the market shared his view, as they told me. They even 16A clear distinction between ambulant and non-ambulant vendors is difficult to make. Some vendors from inside the market send off their children to sell their commodities as ambulant vendors outside Dibida. Like this, they hope to acquire customers who usually do not go inside the market. We have to make these women understand that we are not their enemies; on the contrary, we are here to help them. Similar to Madame Keita, she stressed that they would find a solution together with the concerned women.
It is so difficult to make them understand things. They do not know their rights and duties. The law is on our side, they are not allowed to sell on the street. While members of the local government sit uprightly on a chair behind a desk in their offices, the women have to bring their pleas forward on a wooden bench.
Female state bureaucrats demonstrate superiority and hint at wealth by having an expensive-looking hairstyle, wearing jewels, and depositing a big handbag in front of them. The three state employees, in contrast, presented themselves as well educated, thus conveying the image of someone knowing right from wrong. Altogether, these practices create a boundary between members of the local authorities and the market women. The affected vendors for their part were furious, not knowing where to go.
They were afraid of losing their clients if they had to change their points of sale. One of the market women explained: You have to tell your clients beforehand to look for you somewhere else. But will they do so? So we are all afraid of not earning enough money to buy the evening meal for our children. Further, as the example of Rabiatou Serah Diallo and the Association of Female Leaders in Kankan illustrate, women allude to their roles as mothers or wives to legitimise their public involvement.
Besides such forms of public advocacy politics, it is hardly visible how women shape state and statehood. Generally, women in Kankan do not see themselves as political actors. Their emic notion of politics solely refers to the male dominated institutional politics. They expect the local government to clean and repair the market with this money.
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Further, the market women want the local government to build up infrastructure such as roads, schools, and hospitals and to deliver basic services. Why do such normative expectations vis-a-vis the local government prevail, even if it has been disappointing its population for decades cf. Market Women and the Local Government 57 When asked if they did something against the misuse of public funds, my interlocutors replied in the negative.
They stressed that they did not consider their position as a powerful one. Thus, Sebebilala could continue working on the market and the women still had the ticket vendor they wanted. As this example shows, these market women do not hesitate to call on local state employees to take into account their special situations — as breadwinners of their families — and help them in times of trouble without making their lives harder by confiscating their commodities or giving their selling-tables to someone else.
If there is a problem in Dibida market, the vendors usually address the female chief of market. Together, they then decide whether a delegation should go and see someone at the municipality. Even if they thereafter bargain with the representatives of the local government, the market women do not consider their actions as advocacy politics.
The role of the market chief is an appropriate example which illustrates the blurred boundary between the state and the population: Even though a former mayor has made her the market chief, she does not receive any salary from the municipality. She sells her commodities in Dibida like all the other vendors, but is expected to act as an intermediary between them and the local government in times of conflict, such as during the dispute over the access and control of a public space, namely the road outside Dibida market. This was a conflict of interest: The local government, on the one hand, officially wanted to ensure free traffic circulation.
Their actions, however, can also be analysed as a means of enforcing their authority.
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This contestation over regulation can be seen as a typical example of everyday politics: Still, the two examples clearly illustrate that forms of everyday politics have an influence on the local government. Market women, despite not forming a strong network18, are able to put pressure on the local government by their sheer number and can thus sometimes pursue their goals. They feared the female vendors would publicly protest if their income were further reduced.
In the end, the measures taken by the local authorities have not resolved the problem of women selling on the market road. A few days later, the market road is as crowded as before. Barry, Alpha Ousmane Pouvoir du discours et discours du pouvoir. Women in African Parliaments. Political Studies Review An Anthropology of Everyday Governance. Collective Service Delivery and Subject-Making.
The Governance of Daily Life in Africa. Ethnographic Explorations of Public and Collective Services. Historical Dictionary of Guinea. The Imaginary Institutions of Society. Seven Life Stories from Ghana. Denzer, Laray []: Readings in Gender in Africa. Indiana University Press, Doumbouya, Oumar Sivory PhD Thesis, University of Basel. Maintenant, on sait qui est qui. Statehood in a Stateless Society. Basel Paper on Political Transformations 4: Basel Papers on Political Transformations 3: Goetz, Anne Marie No Shortcuts to Power. African Women in Politics and Policy Making.
Altered States, Altered Lives. Ethnography in Unstable Places. Duke University Press, Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa. The Virtuous Cycle of Representation. Putting the Transition Back on Track. The Mano River Basin Area. A Critical Historical Overview. Everyday Politics in the Philippines. Class and Status Relations in a Central Luzon village. The Power of Everyday Politics. The Production of Space. Leftwich, Adrian []: People, Resources and Power. The Dynamics of States. The Formation and Crisis of State Domination.
Faces of the State. Secularism and Public Life in Turkey. A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics. Osborn, Emily Lynn Our New Husbands are here. Perspectives historiques sur le genre en Afrique. Women Leaders and the Sense of Power. Respecting the Human Condition. Pursuing Intersubjectivity in the Marketplace. Women in African Colonial Histories. The People, the Power and the Public Service. Post-Colonialism and the Political Imagination. Anthropology, Politics, and the State. Democracy and Violence in South Asia.
Steady, Filomina Chioma Women and Collective Action in Africa. Women and Leadership in West Africa. Storr, Virgil Henry The Market as a Social Space. Tripp, Aili Mari Women's Movements and Challenges to Neopatrimonial Rule. Preliminary Observations from Africa. Tripp, Aili Mari []: Transformations in African Political Landscapes. International African Institute, Political Parties and Participation. Analysing Women in the Politics of the Third World. Women and the State in the Third World. Between Family and Market. Gender at Work in Economic Life. Nation, Identity, and Citizenship. Dilemmas of Democracy and Civil Order in Africa.
Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa. Members of Youth Associations as Political Entrepreneurs Michelle Engeler Abstract This paper is a contribution to a better understanding on what it means to be young and to grow up amidst political transformation processes in Guinea in the s. How do these youths gain a living and participate in a complex and turbulent socio-political landscape? The qualitative research showed that they followed various economic activities in parallel; amongst others they were busy with so-called youth associations, the main focus of this paper.
I argue that these youth associations can be described as self-created arenas for both economic and political participation. Interestingly, they thereby collaborate with various actors and institutions, including local elders, the state administration or local political parties and NGOs. Introduction This paper is concerned with young men and women like Albert and Anne.
Moreover, the political circumstances were tense. Amongst other issues, international funding was put on hold, because most countries would not support a military rule which they perceived as an illegitimate one. Hence many planned or envisaged projects of national and international NGOs paused.
Moreover, functioning of the local state administration, the deconcentrated branch units of ministries, and the local authorities such as the mayor were on standby.
La poésie demeure un art majeur
In other words, they were irregularly in office and above all occupied with monitoring the political situation in Conakry. Besides that, smoldering ethnic tensions complicated everyday life. Growing up in such a context, characterized by turbulent social and political circumstances, is of course not unique to Guinean youths but forms the background of many young people around the world.
If expressed differently, it means youth represents a category that is always in the process of being re-made in socio-political practice Durham Thus, this paper does not focus on youths without formal education; neither does it look at an urban space of an African megacity. Instead, it concentrates at a rather small town with rural peripheries and highlights well-educated youths.
These activities included cash crop farming and petty trading, for instance with mobile phones or with self-made small cakes. In general, chances for formal employment were rather low. However, instead thus stresses biological not social age UN Scopa depicts four samples of political entrepreneurship in Cameroon that emerged from the professional groups of businessmen, civil servants, academic staff, and from diverse actors without a certain social standing yet Scopa In the following I argue that youth associations like those Albert and Anne were affiliated to represent self- created arenas for both economic and political participation.
Hence, the related youth practices and activities can be situated in-between money- making, investment and political involvement. In the midst of the political transition and campaigning, they managed to make some money, to gain work experiences and to network with important local actors and institutions — and all that in a rather remote and rural place. This perspective contradicts with other recent debates that situate youth associational life merely as part of civil society organizations. Many of these young men and women I talked to were also affiliated with social groups, for instance related to their profession or their religious background, examples included union movements or scouts, further discussed in Engeler However, I argue that youth associations often consisted of people with a rather good educational background that included students, young graduates and university dropouts.
He understands arena as places, events, organizations or groups in which relations between state and society become discussed or are negotiated Kerkvliet Diouf, too, argues that youth associations can be situated in opposition to the state, as they often challenge state institutions Diouf Therefore, the paper at hand is structured as follows. The following section depicts my research background and approach in the field. Research background and approach The main research data for this paper was collected between and as part of a broader data set that covered a total of 14 months between and The country is furtherdivided into eight administrative regions: In recent times, the region gained special attention due to the Ebola outbreak in cf.
I will come back to that context in my concluding remarks. They were as follows: Thus they got involved in or planned to involve themselves in cleaning and repairing roads, health education campaigning or good governance, promoting vulnerable children and youth in schooling issues. Their fields of activities also included organizing festivities like concerts or dancing parties.
For references regarding Guinea during that time cf. Thus, I have anonymized the context by creating a fictive group and name. However, the example feeds on the data that I had collected from the six associations which I followed at the time of research. From revolutionary youth to youth associations Associations are generally understood as groups of people with a common purpose or interest. They are present in many countries, including the African continent.
They have existed in many forms during pre-colonial and colonial times and are widely discussed within the social sciences: Early academic research on associations in West Africa was especially interested in the social changes implemented by the colonial authorities. They contextualized the associations even youth associations with regard to urbanization processes, migration from rural to urban centers, educational reforms, and the division of labor cf.
Most of them also perceive youth as a social category. He includes associations of car washers as well as money-saving associations and points out that the differentiation among various sub-groups is not of significance instead it is the fact that these social clubs are largely forms of social security arrangements that fill the voids in the Sierra Leonean state. Most authors also agree that membership in such social clubs or youth associations can generally be described as highly political Honwana ; Lentz ; Lentz In the context of colonial Guinea, Goerg states that while the colonial state sponsored youth associations, it often supervised and controlled the members and their activities Goerg Subsequently, the struggle for independence around the s also built the strength of various associations.
Thus, organized young people were an important driving force in these political transformation processes,not only in Guinea but also beyond Schmidt ; Goerg The numerous young members of these institutions met weekly and were assembled within various sections, federations, commissions and congresses.
They describe the societies as associations that used to be particularly relevant to local and regional power figurations McGovern The youth associations and other associations like Christian youth movements, student organizations or age-sets related to secret or power societies established by Non-state youth groups during colonial or pre-colonial times became forbidden, because the state wanted to manage the potential threat of hardly controllable youths with opportunistic or rebellious ideas.
Thus, the Guinean socialist state considered young people as important to realizing the formation of both the post-colonial Guinean state and its new citizens. The political elite therefore placed strategic importance on youth. While writing about Revolutionary Zanzibar, Burgess perceives only minor spaces to negotiate and politically participate in the context of socialist youth groups, as the state did not encourage contested visions Burgess However, by inventing youth as an important category, the state tried not only to manage its juniors, but also gave them official status with the formation of youth groups like the JRDA or the pioneer movement attached to the PDG.
In other words, post-revolutionary socio- political changes and the related ideological shifts and reforms allowed Guinean citizens to enjoy more autonomy to organize themselves in social groups, to articulate alternative ideas and to outline new political imaginations beyond formal politics, i. As the example illustrates, the youths I talked to nevertheless made strong references to state institutions and formal politics in order to wrest some agency from an uncertain economic and political landscape. Hence, present-day youth associations in Guinea neither represent a new phenomenon nor can they be described as completely different from socialist youth groups.
I do not claim that the following interpretations can be generalized to all youth associations in Guinea. Self-created development agents The AJG was founded in and had 30 members - amongst them were Albert and Anne, who stated two main reasons for being part of or launching an association like the AJG. Firstly, they explained that by becoming a member of a youth association they created an additional working environment for themselves.
They linked both arguments to the state, because they saw the state as the main employer and as the key development actor. But as the state could not fulfill these tasks, they got together to foster development and at the same time create jobs and therewith ideally an income for themselves.
This attitude and thinking is in conjunction with the contemporary neoliberal understanding in which the responsibility for development is moved from the state to individuals. Anne told me thus: As we know, the state is the largest employer. The state hires a lot of people. However, our country has problems hiring everybody at state level.
But as young people, you cannot sit back and do nothing. I got to know fifteen active members, most of them males. Only three of the active members were female and none of them held a leading position. However, the President of the group complained about this gender imbalance. Some of them were still students and a few were recent graduates. Thus, most of them studied in distant towns in part at the same universities but came back during semester breaks or when they had finished university.
I asked different members of the AJG if ethnic affiliation is mandatory to become part of their association. They said that ethnic affiliation was not a requisite. All the others, including the students, did not have any regular source of income. Like Albert and Anne, most were busy with different activities besides their studies and commitments for youth associations: Several young women tried to realize traineeships at one of the local branches of national or international NGOs, financial institutions or the state administration and, depending on their family situation, kept house and went to the fields and gardens in the urban peripheries.
All in all, both young men and women of this association can be described as creative improvisers busy with various income generating activities. Lentz ; Lentz However, during the time of research I could not undertake in-depth fieldwork at the universities or in these other towns respectively. You need to have a source of inspiration. If your idea is good, your friends will support and follow you. Interestingly, another member, Alphonse, stressed on outside influences as their motivation for finally creating the youth association: It portrayed a youth association in Senegal.
So we thought, we want to have a youth association too. Amongst other things, the AJG planned a theatre piece for local school children. The play which was organized on World Aids Day indirectly informed the kids about the danger of unprotected sexual intercourse. They tried to project images of their group, either through flyers, signboards or hand-written posters at their home or through labeled T-shirts. These activities were particularly intermingled with local state institutions, political parties and power brokers.
They would often narrate from memory the musical performances and dances of the revolutionary times, taking place as part of the the JRDA or the pioneer movement. It was common for the elders to participate in them. In some cases, they also travelled and performed in Cuba and many of the then socialist countries. The elders were also very keen to learn about contemporary youth activities.
The members of the AJG also contacted the head of the local youth department to garner support. Immediately after the creation of their association, they registered it at the youth department of the local state administration, at the time of research based within the Maison des Jeunes. Komano, president of the council of the elders at the time of research. It was commonly said to be the biggest party headquarters and youth club in the whole of Guinea. Hence, the monumental building mirrors the socialist state era and the close connection between the state, the party and local youth during these times.
However, the most impressive and, at times, the most vivid part of the Maison des Jeunes was the huge community hall with its large stage. There, the prefect welcomed central state representatives, international NGOs, celebrated World AIDS Day, political parties carried out their election meetings and campaigns, and, lastly, youth groups like the AJG tried to organize cultural or musical events.
The Monsieur le Directeur, not only a civil servant but also a member of a locally based political party, sympathized with the idea and suggested to contact other party members to coordinate their activities with regard to the presidential campaign. The AJG representatives did not reject that idea. All in all, by planning events such as the cultural week, young people like the members of the AJG gradually built up a network with diverse local actors.
Thereby, international donors were not the most important ones. By the end of the socialist regime in all of them were transferred to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and thereafter redecorated as Maison des Jeunes. I would argue that these associations and their members can nevertheless be described as politically active, because they actively entered local networks of decision-makers and organized a cultural week during a period of ethnically-oriented political campaigning. Political entrepreneurs The example of the AJG shows that youth associations in Guinea can neither be described as mere civil society groups or social entrepreneurs situated beside the state or the political realm, nor are they just formed for profit.
Instead, they represent important arenas for both political participation and entrepreneurship. Accordingly, members of youth associations like the AJG can be described as self-created political entrepreneurs, acting within the continuum of political parties, local authorities and development projects. They may be sponsored by an international NGO to perform a theatre piece for local school children to inform them about the danger of unprotected sexual intercourse.
But they could also organize a cultural week in the midst of presidential elections and therewith relate to several important local political actors and institutions to, for instance, boost their chances to work for the future state administration. Thus, by referring to data related to both discourses and practices of youth associations such as the AJG this paper argues that the combination of economic and political practices is one of the most promising strategies for young people living in rather uncertain socio- political contexts.
Moreover, young political entrepreneurs do not necessarily act against long-established power brokers but rather try to connect to various different actors, including older generations like the local elders, and national or international NGOs. Conclusion Guinea went through a challenging time between and Thereby, they could not only earn a small income but also work for the country and their personal future.
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Importantly, neither NGOs nor the council of elders or the state administration and political parties were excluded as potential partners. Hence, contemporary youths combine political and economic activities related to well-financed domains such as national or international NGOs. They respected him as representative of local youth. He knew many of the participants as friendly supporters of the cultural week that he had organized as a member of the AJG.
He was not the only one. Many of my former informants contacted between and were involved in one or the other activities related to the Ebola prevention or the presidential elections. Bibliography Arieff, Alexis Journal of Modern African Studies Fragility factors and reconciliation needs in Forest Guinea.
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Youth associations in north-western Ghana. Collective agency, alliances and transnational organizing in urban Africa. Networked city life in Africa. The role of voluntary associations in West African urbanization. As part of the overhaul of the French audiovisual media, changes to RFI have been in the pipeline since and led to a serious crisis in the organisation in Ici, rien de tel. Reste le dur, le socle, ce qui ne souffre pas de discussion: Dans certains cas seulement: Les protestations se sont faites plus rares, moins mordantes.
Mais le doute, toujours, subsiste. Non, nous ne travaillons pas sur commande. Non, nous ne subissons pas de pressions. Question pointue, presque technique comment traiter une revue de presse , mais qui se pose au quotidien. Ils auront eu tort ou raison, selon les phases et les circonstances: Une chose est certaine: Cette situation a une cause essentielle: