GJ 09_06_20.R2.pdf (264.69 kB)
Geographies of youth, mobile phones, and the urban hustle
journal contribution
posted on 2020-06-10, 14:40 authored by Ebenezer F. Amankwaa, James Esson, Katherine V. GoughKatherine V. GoughGeographers have shown how mobile phones are transforming urban economies in Africa by altering the temporal and spatial nature of commercial transactions. Less well-documented is how young people in Africa are using mobile phones to navigate the interplay between personal hopes, social expectations and financial uncertainty associated with urban life. Drawing on qualitative data from youth in two Ghanaian cities, and insights from literature on youth geographies, hustling and everyday urbanism, this paper explores how young people use mobile phones to conjure up and sustain social relations and income-generating opportunities in urban settings. Three signifcant thematic findings emerge from our empirical data: the role of mobile phones in shaping young people’s social status and responsibilities; the use of mobile phones as instruments for surveillance and relationships; and the use of mobile phone technologies as assets for realizing income-generating opportunities. Conceptually, our exploration of mobile phone usage furthers geographical scholarship by providing new insights on the multidimensional nature of constraints faced by youth and their strategies to overcome them. Furthermore, the incorporation of a comparative element within the study illustrates the need for a more spatially nuanced understanding of young people’s uptake and use of mobile phone technologies.
Funding
European Union, 7th Research Framework (Grant Number: 290732).
History
School
- Social Sciences and Humanities
Department
- Geography and Environment
Published in
The Geographical JournalVolume
186Issue
4Pages
362 - 374Publisher
WileyVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Publisher statement
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: AMANKWAA, E.F., ESSON, J. and GOUGH, K.V., 2020. Geographies of youth, mobile phones, and the urban hustle. The Geographical Journal, 186 (4), pp.362-374, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12354. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Acceptance date
2020-05-28Publication date
2020-09-10Copyright date
2020ISSN
0016-7398eISSN
1475-4959Publisher version
Language
- en
Depositor
Dr James Esson. Deposit date: 9 June 2020Usage metrics
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