Youth in Knowledge Production: An African Perspective

The conceptualization of youth in knowledge production has always followed a global definition that stems from the dominant structural systems in the global north that hardly address the peculiarities and realities of the youth in the global south, particularly in Africa. In knowledge production, the concept of youth has universally represented people within a generational cycle of human development and is generally constructed around issues of socioeconomic exclusion, labor market participation, and population growth. These conceptualizations are not fully representative of the concept in the African sense, given the unique diversities of socioeconomic realities in the continent. This chapter situates youth within the concept of African realities in knowledge production. It provides an African perspective of the concept of youth in youth studies, youth policy design, and program implementation that are targeted at youth development. The chapter uses documentary discourse analysis to deconstruct the concept of youth in knowledge production in Africa. The chapter concludes that knowledge production in youth studies reflected a bifurcated view that uses the knowledge generated in the global north to explain the youth in Africa, thereby foreshadowing the realities of the African youth. It recommends that knowledge production in youth studies should be context-specific, using knowledge from their specific context to explain their sociocultural, economic and political realities as this will ensure their true representation in knowledge production.