Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series. It offers debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Arguments books.

From Angola to Tunisia to Sudan, how are youth mobilisations shaping African politics ‘from below’? Alcinda Honwana delivers an unforgettable account of the revolutionary fervour that has swept the continent explaining why youth social movements have struggled to pair street intervention with more sustainable forms of policy and governance engagement.

*Alcinda Honwana is one of the Age of Agitation series co-editors; the views expressed in this article represent the author and do not necessarily represent the United Nations.