Externe Publikationen

Youth masculinities in Zimbabwe’s congested gerontocratic political space

Jaji, Rose
Externe Publikationen (2020)

in: Africa Development, Volume 45(3) 77-96

Volltext/Full text

This article situates its discussion of young Zimbabwean men’s performance of masculinity in a restrictive political space in a broader continental context in  whichthe  majority  of  young  people  are  politically  and  economically  marginalised. It  addresses how the older  generation’s domination  and monopolisation of political space presents obstacles to the youth’s aspiration to perform normative masculinity. The article also discusses various strategies the youth in  Zimbabwe are devising to claim space in a political arena that can be characterised as  a gerontocracy. The youth seek relevance in Zimbabwe’s congested and gerontocratic  political space through strategies that range from co-opting gerontocratic masculinities to subverting them. Notwithstanding the divergence in these strategies, young people who adopt them to create and occupy space in Zimbabwe’s political terrain legitimise their choices by appealing of culture, thus showing how culture can be harnessed for contradictory objectives in the performance of masculinities. The strategies also draw from global trends involving the youth’s engagement in non-traditional political participation facilitated by their dominance of virtual, social media space.

Über die IDOS-Autorin

Weitere IDOS-Expert*innen zu diesem Thema

Burchi, Francesco

Entwicklungsökonomie 

Christ, Simone

Sozialanthropologie 

Dippel, Beatrice

Komparatistik 

Friesen, Ina

Politikwissenschaft 

Nowack, Daniel

Politikwissenschaftler 

Roll, Michael

Soziologie 

Sowa, Alina

Ökonomie 

Zintl, Tina

Politikwissenschaftlerin 

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