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A detailed look at young men in urban Ethiopia that reveals the impact of economic development and globalization

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9781439904800

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[O]ne can praise [Hope Is Cut] as a case study in which unemployed young men and women in Jimma, Ethiopia, figure out how to move from the 'youth' to 'adult' stages of life... [P]erhaps because it addresses both the story of individuals and the context of global social and economic change, [the book is] a useful reference tool for an Ethiopian (or other) novelist interested in writing about the subject of unemployed young men and, to a lesser extent, young women. The Herald Hope Is Cut is unique in focusing on urban unemployment in exploring the difficulty African young men have establishing themselves as independent adults. Beautifully crafted, accessible yet theoretically engaging, it provides a rich ethnographic portrait of youth in urban Ethiopia. Cati Coe, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University-Camden, and author of Dilemmas of Culture in African Schools: Youth, Nationalism, and the Transformation of Knowledge [An] engaging study of young men in urban Ethiopia. While the topic cannot be called entirely new, Mains certainly brings a host of innovative perspectives to this wider conversation, and makes an especially valuable contribution to it... Mains's book on a timely topic deserves a wide audience. - Africa Hope Is Cut is a moving ethnographic account of educated but unemployed urban youth in Ethiopia... Mains provides a nuanced analysis of how unemployed young men construct hope... [The book] makes an important contribution in terms of challenging existing conceptualizations of the social category 'youth.'... [T]he immense importance of this book [is] as a well-documented study of an urban African youth. Hope Is Cut would be excellent ethnographic material especially for undergraduate courses but also for some graduate classes. The book would be an important reading for both academic and applied anthropologists, Africanists of all social sciences backgrounds, development practitioners, government policymakers, and anybody interested in the everyday life of ordinary youth as they confront the realities of growing up in global times. - American Ethnologist

Hope Is Cut is a thoughtful, penetrating, and moving analysis of the lives of young men in Ethiopia and how their predicament sheds light on existing debates in social theory regarding time, space, temporal narratives of progress, social stratification, youth, and neoliberal capitalism in Africa. Mains's book not only looks at an issue of great importance in the contemporary world; it also connects the study of youth to issues in broader social theory. Hope Is Cut should have a wide array of potential applications and a long shelf life. <br>--Jennifer Cole, Professor, Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago, and author of Sex and Salvation: Imagining the Future in Madagascar

[O]ne can praise [Hope Is Cut] as a case study in which unemployed young men and women in Jimma, Ethiopia, figure out how to move from the 'youth' to 'adult' stages of life... [P]erhaps because it addresses both the story of individuals and the context of global social and economic change, [the book is] a useful reference tool for an Ethiopian (or other) novelist interested in writing about the subject of unemployed young men and, to a lesser extent, young women. The Herald Hope Is Cut is unique in focusing on urban unemployment in exploring the difficulty African young men have establishing themselves as independent adults. Beautifully crafted, accessible yet theoretically engaging, it provides a rich ethnographic portrait of youth in urban Ethiopia. Cati Coe, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University-Camden, and author of Dilemmas of Culture in African Schools: Youth, Nationalism, and the Transformation of Knowledge [An] engaging study of young men in urban Ethiopia. While the topic cannot be called entirely new, Mains certainly brings a host of innovative perspectives to this wider conversation, and makes an especially valuable contribution to it... Mains's book on a timely topic deserves a wide audience. - Africa

Author Information

Daniel Mains is Wick Cary Assistant Professor of Honors at the University of Oklahoma.

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