Recycled Inequalities - Youth and Gender in George Compound, Zambia

THIS RESEARCH REPORT builds on a longitudinal study on housing and urban community development which has been active since the 1960s. It contributes to an understanding of changing gender relations, urban development and political transformation in Zambia, by presenting a study of the reality facing young women and men born and raised in a poor peri-urban area, George Compound, in Lusaka. It voices the concerns of youth about their gender identity and sexuality, their family situation, their urban place of living and the way this place is governed in a period of political transformation. These young men and women are usually not heard although the urban youth is part of Zambia's future.

The main research questions posed in this study of youth in George Compound focus on how youth reconstruct or challenge gender inequalities. The concerns about democracy and urban management, deteriorating living conditions and family belonging, sexual education and AIDS generate additional research issues which are also dealt with here. An introduction and methodology are followed by six chapters of findings. Each chapter contains a discussion of the existing literature and theoretical issues in each field. The topics covered in the chapters are housing and urban living conditions, political organization, social lives and friendships, household composition and family ties, family hierarchy and sexual activity. Each of these chapters puts the findings into context and show how youth deal with the conflicts and restraints within that area; numerous quotes are given, providing a sense that the reader is listening to the voices of the youth themselves.

In the short concluding chapter the information is summarised and interpreted in terms of gender negotiations and the dynamics of gender relations.