TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Claiming place: the production of young men's street meeting places in accra, ghana
JO  - Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography
A1  - Langevang, Thilde
SP  - 227
EP  - 242
VL  - 90
IS  - 3
N2  - This article discusses the social significance of the street to young men through a case study of their street meeting places, ‘the bases’ in Accra, Ghana. Drawing on field research in a suburb of Accra, the paper explores how such meeting places are produced, claimed and defended. The aim is to contribute to discussions of the relationship between the marginalization of young men in Africa, the appropriation of street space and the production of youth identities. The article illuminates how bases are produced in an urban landscape characterized by rapid change, in which young men are excluded from meaningful work and influence, and tend to be represented as a problem. Describing how these meeting places are interpreted both from the outside and from within, the article illustrates the heterogeneous character of such places and the multiple meanings ascribed to them. While hordes of young men hanging out on the street tend to be viewed by the surrounding world as either potentially dangerous or as a sign of marginalization and immobility, the paper stresses that for the young men themselves, these places are also full of motion and serve to orient their lives socially and materially.<p /> 
LA  - 
SN  - 0435-3684
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2008.289.x
ID  - ref1
ER  -