Youth and the Global South: Religion, Politics and the Making of Youth in Africa, Asia and the Middle East

Dakar, Senegal, 13-15 October 2006

Convened by:
African Studies Centre (ASC)
Council for the Development of Social Science in Africa (CODESRIA),
Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern world (ISIM),
International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)

The dramatic demographic shift towards the young in many countries of the global South, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, has led to important changes, which analysts are just beginning to understand. The ‘young generation' has been assuming a central, though frequently ambiguous, position in many places in the global South. While political economies change and the processes of globalization continues relentlessly, young people have become both agent and subject in new, yet little understood ways in the interrelated spheres of religion, politics and culture. While many commonly refer to young people as the ‘the future generation' and applaud youthful initiatives, others stigmatize or demonize the young as ‘disruptive' agents, prone to radicalism, violence or recklessness. This is particularly the case in the context of sluggish economies, chronic un- and underemployment, the rise of global cultural imports and moral anomie, where the aims and energies of this exponentially increasing generation have quite often been frustrated. While there have been persistent public debates about ‘youth at risk', there is also a tendency to see youths as one of the principal problems for society, as evidenced in some of the moral panics surrounding their unconventional and sometimes violent or criminal behaviour.

In many places, the ambiguous position of youth relates to the ambiguity surrounding their relationships to both adults and children. Indeed, ‘youth' as a category of analysis cannot be taken for granted, since youth can vary across space, time and context. Unlike children, youth might have the skills and ability to act independently. But unlike many adults, adolescents might not have vested interests in maintaining the status quo, and they, therefore, might be more motivated to promote change in the interrelated realms of politics, economics, religion, and culture. The social positioning of youth must also take gender, class and culture into consideration, since these inflect questions of dependence, autonomy, youth identity and subjectivity. Despite differences, the young do often share a certain kind of habitus, which relates to their subjective experience of being young, and the often fraught relationship with the elders and existing political and religious authorities. Although youth as a category has been described especially for the urban situation, the distinction between urban and rural however is becoming blurred. Youth as a category in ‘rural' areas is an important topic to be considered.

The main objective is to explore the young and their negotiation of the social, political, economic, and cultural constraints they encounter within their environments. The conference is expected to contribute to a comparative analysis of youth cultures, subcultures and subjectivities in the societies of the South and to engage with the conceptual debates on youth cultures, religion, politics, and violence, which have been until now largely formulated from research in Western Europe and North America.

The conference aims at papers from different areas and settings in the global South, that deal with comparable issues. It is therefore proposed that papers focus on the role of youth and youth activities, or the construction of youth as a category. How do various states or other authorities construct youth? What strategies do the young deploy to realize their interests and aspirations? What kinds of religious and political ideologies, practices and cultural politics or nationalism do they embrace? And to what extent is the category of youth tied to or determined by urbanity, or can we increasingly speak of the rural making of youth as well?

The papers may investigate these questions in specific fields like social movements, economics (street children, laborers, etc.), conflict and violence (riots, protests, civil strife, gangs, and vigilantism), religion (from religious radicalism to unorthodox or alternative religious activities), moral regimes for instance in the HIV/AIDS crisis?
The conference is organized by ASC, CODESRIA, ISIM and IIAS and will be held in Dakar, Senegal, 13-15 October 2006.
A publication is foreseen of a volume containing a selection of the papers presented at the conference. Furthermore, the conference intents to result in the formation of a multinational working group that will conduct further study and research of the key issues concerning youth in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Please send a CV and an abstract of 250 words (describing the main points of the paper, notably its central argument, the site of research, and the methodology employed) to Dr. M. Osseweijer (coordinator of academic affairs) at IIAS, Leiden (see below). The deadline for the receipt of abstracts and a CV is 1 February 2006. The Scientific Committee will decide on submissions by April 1, 2006 and will notify applicants thereafter. For those invited, papers are due by 1 July 2006 and pre-circulation of papers will commence by 1 August 2006.

The three-day conference will host three keynote lectures and a maximum of 30 paper presentations. Selection of papers will be done on the bases of an even spread over the various regions of the South and according to thematic match. Those, who would like to attend the conference without presenting a paper, are advised to contact the conference coordinator well in advance.

Funds will be made available to those invited speakers from Africa, the Middle East and South/Southeast Asia who do not have resources available for the coverage of their travel and lodging expenses.
The Steering Committee convening this conference consists of a representative of each of the four collaborating partners: the ASC, ISIM, IIAS and CODESRIA.

The Steering Committee will be assisted by a scientific advisory board consisting of the following persons:

Dr. C. Cardoso (CODESRIA)
Dr. E. Sall (CODESRIA)
Dr. R. van Dijk (ASC)
Dr. B.F. Soares (ASC)
Dr. M. de Bruijn (ASC)
Prof. Dr. J. Abbink (ASC)
Prof. Dr. A. Bayat (ISIM)
Dr. D. Douwes (ISIM)
Dr. M. Osseweijer (IIAS)
Prof. Dr. W. Stokhof (IIAS)

For further information please contact:
Dr Manon Osseweijer
Coordinator of Academic Affairs
International Institute for Asian Studies
Postal address: P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
Visiting address: Nonnensteeg 1-3, 2311 VJ Leiden
T +31-71-527 2231 | F +31-71-527 4162 | www.iias.nl
M.Osseweijer@let.leidenuniv.nl