The research project focuses on contemporary societal changes in contexts where the rapidly growing majority of population is young, and where questions of political participation, citizenship, livelihoods and frustrations require urgent attention. It draws on empirical research in Egypt, Somalia, Tunisia, Zambia, Kenya and South Africa and reveals different aspects of what ‘politics’ may mean in unstable contexts. They differ in terms of state formation and democratic structures, post-conflict developments, NGO involvement, donor funding and global connections. The ethnographic case studies focus on forms, contents and experiences of political engagement in the everyday lives of young people – including potential de-politication, professationalization, consumerism and struggles for mundane livelihoods – in different contexts of contemporary Africa.

Through an ethnographic study of Catholic and Anglican parishes in Kitgum, Northern Uganda, this study aims to find ways for conceptualising the relationship between Christianity and public culture in post-conflict society. The study contends that nuanced, contextualised understandings of the relationships between religion and politics are essential also for a more general understanding of politics and development in the region.

The aim of this research is to find out how a professional learning community is built in a school in a conflict and post-conflict environment. This research will contribute to education reconstruction in conflict and post-conflict societies as no research has written on education reconstruction using the lenses of professional learning communities (PLCs) in these environments.