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The rapidly expanding population of youth gangs and street children is one of the most disturbing issues in many cities around the world. These children are perceived to be in a constant state of destitution, violence and vagrancy, and therefore must be a serious threat to society, needing heavy-handed intervention and 'tough love' from concerned adults to impose societal norms on them and turn them into responsible citizens. However, such norms are far from the lived reality of these children. The situation is further complicated by gender-based violence and masculinist ideologies found in the wider Ethiopian culture, which influence the proliferation of youth gangs. By focusing on gender as the defining element of these children's lives - as they describe it in their own words - this book offers a clear analysis of how the unequal and antagonistic gender relations that are tolerated and normalized by everyday school and family structures shape their lives at home and on the street.
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Poverty and Streetism in Ethiopia
Methodology
Culture
The book
Chapter 1. Ethiopia
The Country
Ethnicity
Consequences of famines in Ethiopia
Addis Ababa
Housing
Street People and Others
Chapter 2. Yilunta: Shame, Honour and Family pride
Masculinity
Yilunta
Socialization
Parenting among the Poor
Children's role in Parenting their Siblings and Parents.
Chapter 3. Son of a Woman
Mulu's Story
Lemlem's Story
The Economics of Street life
Home Life
Social Networks
Motherhood
Fatherhood
Playtime
Education
Health
Parenting the Parents
The Next Generation
Chapter 4. Borco: The Give and Take of Gang Membership
The Borcos and their kind
Territory
Group formation
Gang Life
Street Work
Sharing
Friendship and Cooperating
Unrequited Love
Unrequited Reciprocity
'Imediatismo'
Health and Death
Crime
Violence
Maturing out of the street
Chapter 5. Girls, Sex, and Gang Life
No Home to go to
Not Homeless but Jobless: The Bozene
Girls, Sex, and Gang life
Slow Descent into Hell
Discussion and Conclusion Bibliography
About the author
Paula Heinonen (née Sinicco) is of Ethiopian/Italian parentage and grew up in Addis Ababa. She is College Lecturer in Gender Studies and the Anthropology of Development at Hertford, University of Oxford. Previously, she was Tutor and Visiting Fellows Program Coordinator at the International Gender Studies Centre, University of Oxford and Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Head of Research at the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Summary
The rapidly expanding population of youth gangs and street children is one of the most disturbing issues in many cities around the world. These children are perceived to be in a constant state of destitution, violence and vagrancy, and therefore must be a serious threat to society, needing heavy-handed intervention and ‘tough love’ from concerned adults to impose societal norms on them and turn them into responsible citizens. However, such norms are far from the lived reality of these children. The situation is further complicated by gender-based violence and masculinist ideologies found in the wider Ethiopian culture, which influence the proliferation of youth gangs. By focusing on gender as the defining element of these children’s lives — as they describe it in their own words — this book offers a clear analysis of how the unequal and antagonistic gender relations that are tolerated and normalized by everyday school and family structures shape their lives at home and on the street.
