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3 - Engaging the State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2023

Amy S. Patterson
Affiliation:
University of the South, Tennessee
Tracy Kuperus
Affiliation:
Calvin University, Michigan
Megan Hershey
Affiliation:
Whitworth University, Washington
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Summary

The chapter examines everyday citizenship among youth respondents from the angle of their relationship to the state or as citizenship-from-above. Youth respondents initially defined citizenship in terms of legal obligations to the state. Afrobarometer findings that indicate high levels of support for obeying the law and paying taxes echo those responses, though respondents provide nuance to the Afrobarometer data. Legalistic views of citizenship are closely connected to the building and maintenance of strong relations at the local level and, for some, notions of morality. Few youth defined citizenship primarily in terms of voting, though Afrobarometer findings indicate large percentages do participate in elections. Even fewer youth respondents described citizenship as engagement in activities such as joining with others to advocate or protesting to hold governments accountable, a finding that aligns with the survey data. For these few youth, it is their everyday relationships with friends and neighbors and communal experiences of marginalization that motivate actions. Protest examples from South Africa and Uganda show that citizenship-from-above and citizenship-from-below blur and that everyday citizenship manifests in creative and agentic ways.

Type
Chapter
Information
Africa's Urban Youth
Challenging Marginalization, Claiming Citizenship
, pp. 70 - 90
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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