2 - Marginal Youths or Outlaws? Youth Street Gangs, Globalisation, and Violence in Contemporary Sierra Leone
Corresponding Author(s) : Ibrahim Abdullah
Africa Development,
Vol. 45 No. 3 (2020): Africa Development: Special Issue on African Youth and Globalisation
Abstract
Sierra Leoneans were shocked when video clips of the Central Correctional Centre gallows began circulating on social media after the Minister of Internal Affairs instructed the prison authorities to get ready to take life. The Minister’s pronouncement came hot on the heels of a series of alleged gang-related murders that rocked Freetown in 2016. What are the complex linkages between street violence and youth marginalisation? How might violence among marginal youth relate to unplanned urbanisation, the retreat of the state, the neoliberal paradigm, and the wider political economy – all trappings of an exclusionary globalisation process that continues to exclude those at the periphery? This article describes the appropriation by marginal actors of global cultural influences and their transcription into deadly weapons of the weak in furtherance of a survivalist objective anchored in citizenship. The research is based on fieldwork conducted in five cities in Sierra Leone – group discussions and in-depth interviews with over 300 participants, all identifying themselves as gangsters belonging to one of the three dominant team/ set federations: Crip, Blood, and Black (Black Hood or Black Game). Problematising their quotidian existence in contemporary Africa raises fundamental questions about globalisation and citizenship in the making of subaltern subjectivities.
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- Abdullah, I., 2002, ‘Space, Culture, and Agency in Contemporary Freetown: The Making and Remaking of a Postcolonial City’, in O. Enwezor, ed., Under Siege: Four African Cities: Freetown, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos, Ostfildren, Germany: Hatje Cantz.
- Abdullah, I., 2005, ‘I am a Rebel: Youth, Culture and Violence in Sierra Leone’, in A. Honwana, and F. De Boeck, eds, Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa, Oxford: James Currey.
- Abdullah, I. and Rashid, I., eds, 2017, Understanding West Africa’s Ebola Epidemic: Towards a Political Economy, London: Zed Press.
- Brotherton, D.C., 2015, Youth Street Gangs: A Critical Appraisal, London: Routledge.
- Covey, H.C., 2015, Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture, New York: Greenwood Press.
- Gunst, L., 2003, Born Fi Dead: A Journey Through the Yardie Underworld, New York: Henry Holt and Company.
- Hagedorn, J.M., 2005, ‘The Global Impact of Gangs’ in J.F. Short and L.A. Hughes, eds, Studying Youth Gangs, Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
- Hagedorn, J.M., ed., 2007, Gangs in the Global City: Alternatives to Traditional Criminology, Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
- Hagedorn, J.M., 2008, A World of Gangs: Armed Young men and Gangsta Culture, Minneapolis,MN: University of Minnesota Press.
- Hazen, J.M., and Rodgers, D. eds, 2014, Global Gangs: Street Violence Across the World, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
- Harding, S. and Hazel Chandler, H. (eds), 2018. Poems and Stories from the Streets of Sierra Leone, London: Wayout Books.
- Honwana, A., 2012, The Time of Youth: Work, Social Change, and Politics in Africa, Boulder, CO: Kumarian Press.
- Jensen, S., 2014, ‘Intimate Connections: Gang and the Political Economy of Urbanisation in South Africa’ in J.M. Hazen and D. Rodgers, eds, Global Gangs: Street Violence across the World, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
- Philipps, J., 2013, Youth Gangs and Urban Protest in Conakry, Guinea, Paris: L’Harmattan.
- Pinnock, D., 1984, The Brotherhoods: Street Gangs and State Control in Cape Town, Cape Town: David Philip.
- Shakur, S. aka Monster Kody Scott, 1993, Monster: The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member, New York: Grove Press.
- Short, J.F., and Hughes, L.A. (eds), 2006. Studying Youth Gangs, Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
- Thrasher, F, 1927, The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Venkatesh, S. and Kassimir. R. eds, 2007, Youth, Globalisation, and the Law, Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
References
Abdullah, I., 2002, ‘Space, Culture, and Agency in Contemporary Freetown: The Making and Remaking of a Postcolonial City’, in O. Enwezor, ed., Under Siege: Four African Cities: Freetown, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Lagos, Ostfildren, Germany: Hatje Cantz.
Abdullah, I., 2005, ‘I am a Rebel: Youth, Culture and Violence in Sierra Leone’, in A. Honwana, and F. De Boeck, eds, Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa, Oxford: James Currey.
Abdullah, I. and Rashid, I., eds, 2017, Understanding West Africa’s Ebola Epidemic: Towards a Political Economy, London: Zed Press.
Brotherton, D.C., 2015, Youth Street Gangs: A Critical Appraisal, London: Routledge.
Covey, H.C., 2015, Crips and Bloods: A Guide to an American Subculture, New York: Greenwood Press.
Gunst, L., 2003, Born Fi Dead: A Journey Through the Yardie Underworld, New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Hagedorn, J.M., 2005, ‘The Global Impact of Gangs’ in J.F. Short and L.A. Hughes, eds, Studying Youth Gangs, Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Hagedorn, J.M., ed., 2007, Gangs in the Global City: Alternatives to Traditional Criminology, Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Hagedorn, J.M., 2008, A World of Gangs: Armed Young men and Gangsta Culture, Minneapolis,MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Hazen, J.M., and Rodgers, D. eds, 2014, Global Gangs: Street Violence Across the World, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Harding, S. and Hazel Chandler, H. (eds), 2018. Poems and Stories from the Streets of Sierra Leone, London: Wayout Books.
Honwana, A., 2012, The Time of Youth: Work, Social Change, and Politics in Africa, Boulder, CO: Kumarian Press.
Jensen, S., 2014, ‘Intimate Connections: Gang and the Political Economy of Urbanisation in South Africa’ in J.M. Hazen and D. Rodgers, eds, Global Gangs: Street Violence across the World, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Philipps, J., 2013, Youth Gangs and Urban Protest in Conakry, Guinea, Paris: L’Harmattan.
Pinnock, D., 1984, The Brotherhoods: Street Gangs and State Control in Cape Town, Cape Town: David Philip.
Shakur, S. aka Monster Kody Scott, 1993, Monster: The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member, New York: Grove Press.
Short, J.F., and Hughes, L.A. (eds), 2006. Studying Youth Gangs, Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
Thrasher, F, 1927, The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Venkatesh, S. and Kassimir. R. eds, 2007, Youth, Globalisation, and the Law, Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.