Theorising age and generation in development: A relational approach

This introduction outlines the analytical approach informing the articles presented in this special issue. The project of ‘generationing’ development involves re-thinking development as distinctly generational in its dynamics. For this, we adopt a relational approach to the study of young people in development, which overcomes the limitations inherent to common categorising approaches. Concepts of age and generation are employed to conceptualise young people as social actors and life phases such as childhood and youth in relational terms. Acknowledging the centrality of young people in social reproduction puts them at the heart of development studies and leads the articles comprising this special issue to explore how young people’s agency shapes and is shaped by the changing terms of social reproduction brought about by development

"My body breaks. I take solution." Inhalant use in Delhi as pleasure seeking at a cost

Background: Inhalant use has existed in India since the 1970s and has increased significantly over the last decades, especially among street-oriented young people. The latter constitute a heterogeneous category: children from street families, children 'of' the street, rag pickers, and part-time street children. There are also inhalant-using schoolchildren and young people in slums. Methods: Fieldwork was conducted for 1 year. Team ethnography, multi-sited and comparative research, flexibility of methods and writing field notes were explicit parts of the research design. Most research was undertaken with six groups in four areas of Delhi, exemplifying six generic categories of inhalant-using street-oriented young people. Results: Inhalants in India are branded: Eraz-Ex diluter and whitener, manufactured by Kores, are used throughout Delhi; Omni glue in one specific area. There is a general lack of awareness and societal indifference towards inhalant use, with the exception of the inhalant users themselves, who possess practical knowledge. They conceive of inhalants as nasha, encapsulating the materiality of the substances and the experiential aspects of intoxication and addiction. Fragments of group interviews narrate the sensory appeal of inhalants, and an ethnographic vignette the dynamics of a sniffing session. These inhalant-using street children seek intoxication in a pursuit of pleasure, despite the harm that befalls them as a result. Some find nasha beautiful, notwithstanding the stigmatization, violence and bodily deterioration; others experience it as an overpowering force. Conclusion: A source of attraction and pleasure, inhalants ravage street children's lives. In this mysterious space of lived experience, their self-organization evolves. Distinguishing between hedonic and side effects, addiction helps to understand inhalant use as at once neurobiological, cultural, and involving agency. The implications are that India needs to develop a policy of treatment and employment to deal with the addiction

La banda y sus choros. Un grupo de niños de la calle hilando historias de edad, género y liderazgo

This article recounts the story of the Bucareli boys, a group of street children in Mexico City who were also known as the banda of metro Ju&#225;rez. Documenting the &quot;Buca&quot; boys over a period of three years allowed me to formulate three insights about the internal power differentiation in terms of leadership, gender, and age. These insights are valid as well, I think, for the other 15 bandas where I did fieldwork. First, it is important to place the dynamics of leadership and gender relations in an age perspective. Second, as structuring principles of street life, leadership, gender and age have an inherently evanescent character, due to an interplay of constraints that are both internal and external to the banda. My third suggestion concurs with Liebow in that homelessness creates a world of paradoxes and contradictions. Power differentiation among relatively powerless people is a contradiction in terms; and the dynamics of leadership, gender and age disclose paradoxical social ties within the banda. These can be particularly harrowing in the relations between street kids and the young adults posing as surrogate fathers and mothers. This ethnographic analysis of &quot;crazy-making homelessness&quot; is relevant for mental health. The kids&#39; story-telling about leadership and gender relations veiled their fragility, since in these tales they attributed themselves a power which they did not have in reality. More than mere symptoms of psychopathology or a manipulative personality disorder, these stories testify to the creativity and resilience of these young people. The illusory power of the choros, the bullshit tales about street children, enables them to live in apparent harmony under the conditions in which they live.</p

La banda y sus choros. Un grupo de niños de la calle hilando historias de edad, género y liderazgo

This article recounts the story of the Bucareli boys, a group of street children in Mexico City who were also known as the banda of metro Ju&#225;rez. Documenting the &quot;Buca&quot; boys over a period of three years allowed me to formulate three insights about the internal power differentiation in terms of leadership, gender, and age. These insights are valid as well, I think, for the other 15 bandas where I did fieldwork. First, it is important to place the dynamics of leadership and gender relations in an age perspective. Second, as structuring principles of street life, leadership, gender and age have an inherently evanescent character, due to an interplay of constraints that are both internal and external to the banda. My third suggestion concurs with Liebow in that homelessness creates a world of paradoxes and contradictions. Power differentiation among relatively powerless people is a contradiction in terms; and the dynamics of leadership, gender and age disclose paradoxical social ties within the banda. These can be particularly harrowing in the relations between street kids and the young adults posing as surrogate fathers and mothers. This ethnographic analysis of &quot;crazy-making homelessness&quot; is relevant for mental health. The kids&#39; story-telling about leadership and gender relations veiled their fragility, since in these tales they attributed themselves a power which they did not have in reality. More than mere symptoms of psychopathology or a manipulative personality disorder, these stories testify to the creativity and resilience of these young people. The illusory power of the choros, the bullshit tales about street children, enables them to live in apparent harmony under the conditions in which they live.</p

Beyond discourse and competence: Science and subjugated knowledge in street children studies

This article argues that street children studies (SCS) has reduced its central concept to a discursive construct, and the young street people themselves to capable 'agents'. One consequence is that street children are not recognized as distinct intergenerational groupings in society. The traditional history of SCS as saga of science elides its positionality as activist critique. This dominant paradigm emerges as overarching belief structure and storytelling tradition, in which the presentation of correct and useful science is crucial. Taking the activist critique as a variant of post-development theory, this article traces different forms of discursive determinism, deconstructionism and populism. Using an iconic text as test case, the article reviews in detail the deconstructionist and populist arguments regarding the complexities, politics and images of street children. Opportunities to think sociologically are identified throughout. Discursive determinism relates to the narrow focus on childhood; intergenerational approaches help to go beyond discourse and competence

Inhalant drug use and street youth: Ethnographic insights from Mexico City

The inhalation of volatile substances with intentions of intoxication affects the lives of marginalized youths around the globe, but remains poorly understood. Based upon long-term ethnographic enquiry, this chapter describes the inhalant use of Mexico City's young street people from their perspective, and understands it as learned behavior and lived experience. The "normalcy" of inhalant use in Mexico City is striking; streetwise inhabitants have knowledge about inhalants and inhalant users, and act accordingly. Users distinguish and classify a range of inhalants and sniffing techniques. Complicated patterns of inhalant use indicate the becoming of what are known as "inhalant fiends": formation within users of gusto, the acquired appetite for inhalants, and of vicio, the devotion to inhalants. An elaborate street culture of sniffing thus emerges: a complex configuration of shared perspectives and embodied practices, shaped by and shaping social exclusion. These findings are relevant to appreciate and address the acquired appetite and devotion of the so-called inhalant fiends