African Youth Facing the Global Challenges of the 21th Century: Life Trajectories and Social Practices
The article is concerned with the transformation of life trajectories and social practices of young people of the "fragile" States of Africa in the XXI century. The author is trying to disprove the overly critical and problematized research approach, according to which African youth grown up in the conditions of the worst socio-economic deprivation is considered as a generation that threatens the security of the African continent and prosperous world countries. It was demonstrated that today, new generations of Africans are social actors with a strong modernization potential capable of bringing about positive change in African society.Young Africans' perceptions of success and the specific features of successful life and professional strategies in permanently crisis society are the subject of analysis.It reveals how globalization and glocalization trends are reflecting and combining in the individual destinies of young people of the African continent. Modern trends and "modes" of growing up in Africa, Russia and in Western countries are comparing.Xenophobia, violence and the involvement of children and youth in military conflicts are considered as major risks to the well-being of new generations of African countries. Many African countries, escaping the influence of traditional culture, are moving towards a post-modern, prefigurative type of culture where older generations learn from younger ones. Young people have to be innovators in ways of career making and mastering actual social practices. The hypothesis is that the social and personal resources of new generations of Africans can help the African continent to lift out from the outsiders into the world political and economic stage.