The Sacrificed Generation
Youth, History, and the Colonized Mind in Madagascar
$65.00, £38.95 hardcover
978-0-520-22950-1
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$29.95, £17.95 paperback
978-0-520-22951-8
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392 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 16 b/w photographs, 2 line illustrations, 3 maps, 4 tables
September 2002, Available worldwide
Categories: Anthropology; African History; Postcolonial Studies; Geography
September 2002, Available worldwide
Categories: Anthropology; African History; Postcolonial Studies; Geography
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"Merits the attention of historians looking for a common ground between disciplines."—Gerald Berg, Jrnl of African History
"This fascinating study, grounded in vivid depictions of local life, relates to larger questions about the postcolonial exercise of political and economic power, when ostensibly sovereign states such as Madagascar are so profoundly controlled by international organizations unattached to any particular state. Sharp asks how young people in these radically changing circumstances are taught and teach themselves to understand their past, present and future."—Gillian Feeley-Harnik, author of A Green Estate
"Sharp's work is in the best tradition of classic anthropology, extending the critiques of Fanon, Mannoni, Memmi, and Freire by examining the effects of the socialist revolution, the birth of Malagasy nationalism, and the imposition of a postcolonial pedagogy on the minds of the 'sacrificed generation.' Her detailed ethnography is superb."—Nancy Scheper-Hughes, author of Death without Weeping
"Sharp's work is in the best tradition of classic anthropology, extending the critiques of Fanon, Mannoni, Memmi, and Freire by examining the effects of the socialist revolution, the birth of Malagasy nationalism, and the imposition of a postcolonial pedagogy on the minds of the 'sacrificed generation.' Her detailed ethnography is superb."—Nancy Scheper-Hughes, author of Death without Weeping
Youth and identity politics figure prominently in this provocative study of personal and collective memory in Madagascar. A deeply nuanced ethnography of historical consciousness, it challenges many cross-cultural investigations of youth, for its key actors are not adults but schoolchildren. Lesley Sharp refutes dominant assumptions that African children are the helpless victims of postcolonial crises, incapable of organized, sustained collective thought or action.
She insists instead on the political agency of Malagasy youth who, as they decipher their current predicament, offer potent, historicized critiques of colonial violence, nationalist resistance, foreign mass media, and schoolyard survival. Sharp asserts that autobiography and national history are inextricably linked and therefore must be read in tandem, a process that exposes how political consciousness is forged in the classroom, within the home, and on the street in Madagascar.
Keywords: Critical pedagogy
She insists instead on the political agency of Malagasy youth who, as they decipher their current predicament, offer potent, historicized critiques of colonial violence, nationalist resistance, foreign mass media, and schoolyard survival. Sharp asserts that autobiography and national history are inextricably linked and therefore must be read in tandem, a process that exposes how political consciousness is forged in the classroom, within the home, and on the street in Madagascar.
Keywords: Critical pedagogy
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Notes on the Text
Acknowledgments
I. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A CHILDREN'S HISTORY
INTRODUCTION
1. YOUTH AND THE COLONIZED MIND
II. THE PERPLEXITIES OF URBAN SCHOOLING: SACRIFICE, SUFFERING, AND SURVIVAL
2. THE SACRIFICED GENERATION
3. THE LIFE AND HARD TIMES OF THE SCHOOL MIGRANT
III. FREEDOM, LABOR, AND LOYALTY
4. THE RESURGENCE OF ROYAL POWER
5. OUR GRANDFATHERS WENT TO WAR
6. LABORING FOR THE COLONY
IV. YOUTH AND THE NATION: SCHOOLING AND ITS PERILS
7. GIRLS AND SEX AND OTHER URBAN DIVERSIONS
8. THE SOCIAL WORTH OF CHILDREN
CONCLUSION: YOUTH IN AN AGE OF NATIONALISM
Appendix 1. A Guide to Key Informants
Appendix 2. Population Figures for Madagascar, 1990–1994
Appendix 3. Population Figures for the Sambirano
Appendix 4. Schools in Ambanja and the Sambirano Valley
Appendix 5. Enrollment Figures for Select Ambanja Schools
Appendix 6. Bac Results at the State-Run Lycée Tsiaraso I, 1990–1994
Appendix 7. Students' Aspirations
Notes
Glossary
References
Index
List of Tables
Notes on the Text
Acknowledgments
I. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A CHILDREN'S HISTORY
INTRODUCTION
1. YOUTH AND THE COLONIZED MIND
II. THE PERPLEXITIES OF URBAN SCHOOLING: SACRIFICE, SUFFERING, AND SURVIVAL
2. THE SACRIFICED GENERATION
3. THE LIFE AND HARD TIMES OF THE SCHOOL MIGRANT
III. FREEDOM, LABOR, AND LOYALTY
4. THE RESURGENCE OF ROYAL POWER
5. OUR GRANDFATHERS WENT TO WAR
6. LABORING FOR THE COLONY
IV. YOUTH AND THE NATION: SCHOOLING AND ITS PERILS
7. GIRLS AND SEX AND OTHER URBAN DIVERSIONS
8. THE SOCIAL WORTH OF CHILDREN
CONCLUSION: YOUTH IN AN AGE OF NATIONALISM
Appendix 1. A Guide to Key Informants
Appendix 2. Population Figures for Madagascar, 1990–1994
Appendix 3. Population Figures for the Sambirano
Appendix 4. Schools in Ambanja and the Sambirano Valley
Appendix 5. Enrollment Figures for Select Ambanja Schools
Appendix 6. Bac Results at the State-Run Lycée Tsiaraso I, 1990–1994
Appendix 7. Students' Aspirations
Notes
Glossary
References
Index