From Resistance to Acquiescence? Neoliberal Reform, Students Activism and Political Change in Ghana

Abstract

This article focuses on the role of the youth in the dual processes of neoliberal reform and political change in contemporary Africa. Drawing on the case of Ghana, the article examines how specific policy prescriptions by Western donors have implications for Africa’s youth including their economic futures and how the youth in turn have sought to contest and resist these policies. In particular, the article explores student resistance to the introduction of user fees at the tertiary educational sector in Ghana, focusing specifically on student activism and protest, and linking these to the role of the youth in Africa’s new political spaces.