IT'S NOT A COUNTRY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. BECOMING AN ADULT IN PRAIA BETWEEN STADIUM AND CREATIVITY

In Praia, the capital city of Cape Verde, juventude is an ambiguous category that is at the centre of the local debate. In the island' recent history, youth have gone from being a resource to being a 'social issue': their generation is considered problematic and dangerous, because they struggle to access adulthood, and they are involved in deviant behaviour. On the other hand, Cape Verdean boys and girls face the myth of the 'youth crisis', redefining the structural terms of the issue and constructing independent pathways to adulthood, such as urban gangs and social activist movements, which receive, however, a different interpretation from the community.