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Enough!': Will Youth Protests Drive Political Change in Africa?

30 November 2015

Alcinda Honwana image

One-third of Africans are aged between 10 and 24. However, although they are better educated than their parents and have higher expectations, they are less likely to have jobs or political influence. At a recent well-attended LSE public lecture, Alcinda Honwana, Open University Visiting Professor in International Development, spoke on the disaffected African young people who risk their lives to try to reach Europe or join radical groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Shabab and Islamic State. 

Exploring xenophobic attacks by angry young unemployed South Africans, or how youths protesting their socio-economic and political marginalisation have changed governments in Tunisia and Senegal, Professor Honwana argued that young Africans are organising in many ways, and are starting to make their voices heard.

Professor Alcinda Honwana is Director of the Africa Program of the Social Science Research Council, New York, and author of The Time of Youth: Work, Politics, and Social Change in Africa (Kumarian Press, 2012) and Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (Zed Books, 2013).

The talk formed part of the prestigious Africa Talks series, which creates a platform for African voices to inform and transform the global debate. It was chaired by Funmi Olonisakin, Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King's College London and member of the panel on the 2015 Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture.

Listen to podcast of 'Enough!': Will Youth Protests Drive Political Change in Africa?

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