The army of ‘unemployed’ young people

Abstract

Youth employment has jumped to the forefront of the international development agenda, especially with regards to stabilizing so-called fragile states. Liberia is a case in point. Here post-conflict stability has been cast as deeply connected to the issue of youth idleness. The objective of the article is first to show how the provision of jobs and the idea of youth employment is given paramount importance for the stabilization of fragile post-conflict states like Liberia and the achievement of a ‘liberal’ peace. In what way precisely does unemployment constitute a problem? Is Liberian youth jobless? What about the place of informality and hustling in the livelihood strategies of youth? I address the issue of unemployment, security and the role of ‘informality’ in the lives of youth drawing on ethnographic material. I use one of my informants, Adonis, to situate and contextualize the discussion. The intention is to turn upside down the bureaucratic gaze that categorizes youth merely as ‘unemployed’ and show the way in which Adonis, like thousands of other youngsters, engages in the ‘informal’ economy.