Stuck
Subtitle: Rwandan youth and the struggle for adulthood
By: Marc Sommers
Series: Studies in security and international affairs; Studies in security and international affairs
Publisher: University of Georgia Press; published in association with the United States Institute of Peace
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Athens, GA; [Washington, D.C.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 281
ISBN-13: 9780820338903; 9780820338910
Subjects: Youth; Social conditions; Rwanda; Economic conditions; Youth and violence; History
Description: Spotlighting failed masculinity, urban desperation, and forceful governance, Marc Sommers tells the dramatic story of young Rwandans who are "stuck," striving against near-impossible odds to become adults. In Rwandan culture, female youth must wait, often in vain, for male youth to build a house before they can marry. Only then can male and female youth gain acceptance as adults. However, Rwanda's severe housing crisis means that most male youth are on a treadmill toward failure, unable to build their house yet having no choice but to try. What follows is too-often tragic. Rural youth face a future as failed adults, while many who migrate to the capital fail to secure a stable life and turn fatalistic about contracting HIV/AIDS. Featuring insightful interviews with youth, adults, and government officials, Stuck tells the story of an ambitious, controlling government trying to govern an exceptionally young and poor population in a densely populated and rapidly urbanizing country. This pioneering book sheds new light on the struggle to come of age and suggests new pathways toward the attainment of security, development, and coexistence in Africa and beyond.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-274) and index.
Table of contents: title: Youth in waithood; title: Doing research in Rwanda; title: Living in a vertical world : rural youth and the government; title: Low horizons; title: Striving for adulthood; title: Desperation on the new frontier : urban youth and the government; title: An inconstant existence; title: Prostitution, Aids and fatalism; title: Visions and realities : Rwanda and beyond : Stuck youth.