Overcoming marginalization and securitization: an analysis of the potential causes of collective youth violence in Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) and Praia (Cape Verde)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the possible conditions for the emergence or containment of collective youth violence in two African capitals (Bissau and Praia) focusing on young people’s (re)actions to economic and social marginality. The visibility of violent groups in Praia – capital of a ‘model African country’ – contrasts with the apparent scarcity of these phenomena in Bissau – capital of an economically stagnant and politically unstable country. In this paper, we argue that more than looking at traditional theories that relate violence to poverty or social anomie, it is necessary to analyze, on the one hand, the role of social inequality in sustaining violence and, on the other hand, the degree of acceptance of the marginalization and social destiny by the young.