Book Review 'Youth gangs and street children: culture, nurture and masculinity in Ethiopia'

Abstract

With Youth Gangs & Street Children Paula Heinonen has written a remarkable book that deserves a wide readership. It is based on six years of ethnographic research (1995–2001) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, conducted whilst Heinonen was based at the University of Addis Ababa, complemented with various snippets of data from the years after. The book differs from much of what has been written about young people on the street in that it brings together research with ‘home-living street children’ and their families, groups of homeless street-living boys and youth (borcos), and unemployed youth (bozene) who spend most their time in the street. Heinonen shows that it is not so much age that sets these groups apart but rather their appearance, styles, and activities. In addition, she shows that these categories are relational constructs. The bozene, for example, refer to the borcos to identify themselves. The book’s central argument is based on the weaving together of rich individual biographies and wider social forces.