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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:'Sleep occupies no space': the use of public space by street gangs in Kinshasa
Author:Geenen, KristienISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:79
Issue:3
Pages:347-368
Language:English
Geographic term:Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Subjects:street children
urban environment
youth gangs
External links:https://doi.org/10.3366/E0001972009000850
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_the_journal_of_the_international_african_institute/v079/79.3.geenen.pdf
Abstract:This article deals with issues of territoriality, public space, the microphysics of power and street gang life in the current urban context of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this city, a growing number of street children invade the public places. They team up in gangs and scour the streets in search of a location to settle (for a while). Along with their appropriation of public space, these gangs encounter several actors such as the city authorities, shop owners, tenants or rival street gangs. Before any settlement, deals have to be closed since every inch of the city is negotiable. All participants get involved in these negotiations, for no one is considered marginal, certainly not the street youth who are inextricably bound up with Congolese society. This contribution considers this dynamic field of negotiations through a focus on space and analyses it from a Foucauldian angle. It explores how gang members develop particular ways to control their territories and exercise power in them. Additionally, it examines how street youths manage to construct a home in the streets and make sense of their urban environment in the process. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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