Why do urban youth gangs protest against a political regime? And why do their protests occur

right in the center of a capital city?

Ambivalent rage investigates the world of youth gangs and politics in the West-African city of

Conakry, Guinea. It sheds light on how young men organize in gangs, how they perceive, confront

and collaborate with the political elite and how this translates their precariousness into political

instability.

"This study is a very rich contribution to the general theoretical debate on youth popular

culture, democracy, governance and the African state. An original and solid analysis of both the

discursive and physical presence of the Guinean youth in the public space, it tracks meticulously,

beyond the politics and economics of the youth predicament, the culture and imaginary attached

to youth. Its specific examples are drawn from a copious use of written and oral sources associated

to a solid ethnographic exploration of the Guinean social and political scene."

Prof. Mamadou Diouf, Columbia University, New York

"This invaluable work explores urban youth gangs in Conakry, Guinea. Tightly disciplined and

organized, their action extends well beyond the criminality implied by the term. The precarious

situation and uncertain prospects of urban youth, and their frequent rage at their marginality, make

them a volatile social force. They are at once an appealing target for political instrumentalization,

but hard to control. The informed and insightful analysis in this succinct book is of comparative

application to many large African cities."

Prof. Crawford Young, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"In Ambivalent Rage , Joschka Philipps grasps the urbanity of even the most seemingly limited of

cities - that despite clear absences of infrastructure and effective provisioning and management,

residents intersect the various tools at their disposal, such as ethnic affiliation, class differentiation,

geographic location, and the specificities of the built environment to elaborate the potentialities of

their circumstances. Philipps incisively analyzes how youth put together specific tools for relating

to everyday conditions, and that assuming these tools places youth within very specific demeanors

and orientations."

Prof. Abdou-Maliq Simone, Goldsmiths College, London