« Faire le jeune » dans les gangs de l’économie clandestine pétrolière (delta du Niger, Nigéria)

Abstract

This paper uses an ethnography of youth gangs in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria to explore the distinctions between being young and being youth and to argue that, in order to understand the complexities of a category whose politics have profoundly influenced the history of contemporary social transitions in many African societies, one must analytically disaggregate its various components and highlight the interesting ways in which various contexts can shape it. There is of course a wide variety of spatial and historical contexts which shape the nature of the experiences that youth have. In this paper, the context of oil extraction and a long history of violent social ruptures in the Niger Delta are used as entry points into understanding how youthhood is framed as well as understood, and how different categories of actors engage with its constantly changing realities.