Contingent relations, cult(ure)s of respectability and youth mobilisation in the oil rich Niger Delta

This paper examines the subtle influences that respectability and contingent action exert on the self imagination and social mobilisation of youth. Placing the analysis within the context of the politics of oil extraction in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, the paper uses field data to show how the temporalities of ageing currently shape respectability within Delta youthscapes and how provisionality serves as a central vehicle for social navigation.