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Moving young lives: Mobility, immobility and inter-generational tensions in urban Africa

Porter, G.; Hampshire, K.; Abane, A.; Robson, E.; Munthali, A.; Mashiri, M.; Tanle, A.

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Authors

A. Abane

E. Robson

A. Munthali

M. Mashiri

A. Tanle



Abstract

This paper explores young people’s experiences and perceptions of mobility and mobility constraints in poorer urban areas of Ghana, Malawi and South Africa within the specific context of inter-generational relations. Drawing principally on qualitative research findings from a study involving both adult and child researchers, our aim is to chart the diversities and commonalities of urban young people’s mobility experiences in the everyday – how they use and experience the city – developing a comparative perspective across three urban study sites which links young people’s mobility with the power relations that operate to shape their movements in individual locations. In particular, we consider how positive and negative images of young people’s mobility play out in terms of the inter-generational frictions and negotiations generated by their mobility performances. We also reflect on the developmental implications, in terms of young people’s access to services and income and their participation in the social networks and peer culture which may shape their life trajectories. Three themes are explored in detail: mobility as challenge, mobility as temptation and mobility control.

Citation

Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Robson, E., Munthali, A., Mashiri, M., & Tanle, A. (2010). Moving young lives: Mobility, immobility and inter-generational tensions in urban Africa. Geoforum, 41(5), 796-804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.05.001

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 1, 2010
Deposit Date Oct 27, 2011
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Geoforum
Print ISSN 0016-7185
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 41
Issue 5
Pages 796-804
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.05.001
Keywords Mobility, Transport, Young people, Children, Urban, Inter-generational relations, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa.

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Copyright Statement
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Geoforum. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Abane, A., Robson, E., Munthali, A., Mashiri, M. and Tanle, A. (2010) 'Moving young lives : mobility, immobility and inter-generational tensions in urban Africa.', Geoforum., 41 (5). pp. 796-804, doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.05.001





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