Towards a sociology of global south youth: navigating material differences and false binaries

Abstract

In this chapter we argue that we need to take seriously that youth, as a sociological category, is not only constituted by life-course status and intersectional aspects of identity like race, class and gender, but also by place. One construct that we find particularly useful for exploring how historically constituted conditions differentiate young people's lives geographically, is the notion of the global south. Rather than understanding the global south primarily as a geographical region, it is better conceived as a historically forged political category, interpolated in the second half of the twentieth century, roughly referring to- but not quite commensurate with- parts of the world that were colonized. While former colonies differ from one another and the north-south binary is clearly false, material differences do exist on a global scale and can be described at a national and regional level, with implications for place-based characteristics of young people's lives. Circumstances that characterise the countries global south youth inhabit include increased population density, more limited access to income, other resources and support from the state, but higher rates of violence and inequality. In the final section of the chapter we outline a theoretical approach of navigational capacities that focuses on elements that characterise the lives of global south youth, with increasing relevance for young people everywhere. The concept of navigation allows for a framework that transcends the individual-social divide, looking at how young people deal with the here and now and exert agency through their imagined futures.