The left behind: oil, youth and symbolic violence in the Niger delta

Around the world, the harms and profits of oil exploration are distributed unequally. This inequality has sparked violence in many oil communities, leading to calls for redistributive approaches as an effective way to address petro-violence. Despite the inclusivity potential of distributive mechanisms, distributive agencies are often not level playing ground for community members. The capacity of excluded groups to participate meaningfully in the development agencies is shaped by the operation of symbolic violence. Using ethnographic data and symbolic violence as a theoretical basis in this paper, I map out three doxas - lazy youth, gerontocratic and deviant - which hinder youth participation in the oil development process. I show how these doxas enable institutional leaders in two development agencies in the Niger delta region of Nigeria to accumulate various forms of capital and occupy positions of power in the networks while simultaneously limiting young people's political participation, employment prospects, and stereotyping them as social threats. Several other dimensions of symbolic domination are discussed: including the misrecognition, acceptance, and resistance of these doxas by the youths themselves. I conclude with a brief reflection on the implication of these doxas for achieving inclusive development in the Niger delta.