Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2015-12-01, 11:30:18 | version 1.43.00
AKZENTUIERT akzente 1/15 19 » ratus, the lack of freedom of opinion and widespread cor- ruption. They were also triggered by anger at the supply bottlenecks affecting bread and flour, and the poor quality of state education. Rising prices and poor job opportuni ties were an explosive mix. Young adults with no economic prospects and little hope of ever achieving independence and starting a family were the driving forces behind the Arab Spring in Egypt. One young man in particular was the trigger for the protests across the Arab world: Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor. After the death of his father, it fell to him to support his family by selling fruit and vegetables from a cart. But Mohamed was often ha rassed by the police because he had no permit, and then they confiscated his wares and scales. He complained to the municipal authorities – to no avail. He was arrested and beaten by the police. In protest at these humiliations, Mo- hamed set himself alight. His self-immolation in Decem- ber 2010 was a rallying cry. Mohamed Bouazizi’s act inspired others in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Egypt. Researchers have identified the ‘youth bulge’ – meaning that young Your best friends around you and all the time in the world: some young people have a carefree existence – but only in a few Western countries. ‘… and I remember my youth and the feeling … that I could last for ever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men’ joseph conrad, in his short story ‘Youth’ (1902) 90%of 10- to 24-year-olds live in developing countries. akzente 1/1519