Wednesday 18 November 2015, 6.30-8.00pm
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building
Speaker: Professor Alcinda Honwana
Chair: Professor Funmi Olonisakin
Africa Talk: "Enough!": Will youth protests drive political change in Africa?
About the event:
Disaffected African young people risk their lives to try to reach Europe. Others join radical groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Shabab and Islamic State. Angry young unemployed South Africans were behind xenophobic attacks there. Youths protesting their socio-economic and political marginalization have changed governments in Tunisia and Senegal.
One-third of Africans are between the ages of 10 and 24. They are better educated than their parents and have higher expectations. But they are less likely to have jobs or political influence. Young Africans are organizing in many ways, and are making their voices heard. How will they force governments to listen?
About the speaker:
Professor Alcinda Honwana is 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). She is Visiting Professor in International Development at the Open University and was Director of the Africa Program of the Social Science Research Council, New York.
Funmi Olonisakin is 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.
See a preview of Professor Honwana in action below.
Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (African Arguments)
Zed Books, 2013
256pp. ISBN: 9781780324616
"It is an invaluable addition to our knowledge of the wider revolution in the Arab world today."
(Professor George Joffe, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge)
The Time of Youth: Work, Politics, and Social Change in Africa
Kumarian Press, 2012
240pp. ISBN: 9781565494725
"Elegantly written and eloquently argued, these chapters explore the aspirations of this generation of young Africans who are trapped in wait hood."
(E-international relations)
Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSEAfrica
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