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acknowledgments This study marks a commitment to long-term research based in northwest Madagascar , with activities extending back to the late 1980s. My original work focused on the interplay of gender, migration, and religious experience in Ambanja and the Sambirano (Sharp 1993). Although at the time I was most concerned with adults’ lives, a theme that emerged repeatedly involved adults’ concerns for school youth (Sharp 1990). In fact, numerous informants, while simultaneously highly supportive of my interest in local culture, nevertheless encouraged me to return in order to investigate the more pressing social problems that plagued their children’s lives. This current book is the end result of a promise I made to the community to return with this specific goal in mind. I am therefore deeply indebted to a number of institutions and individuals who have made this second research project possible. Generous funding was provided for the field component by the American Philosophical Society; an Academic Grant from Butler University; and the Joint Committee on African Studies of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation . An association with L’Institut des Civilisations at the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie in Antananarivo, under the helpful guidance of its director, JeanAim é Rakotoarisoa, made this work both possible and enjoyable. Two faculty grants from Barnard College and a Richard Carley Hunt Fellowship from the WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Research (Grant No. 6047) have offered invaluable support for writing and for complementary archival research in Berkeley, Cambridge, New York, and Aix-en-Provence, France. In Aix, I am especially indebted to Jean Villon, whose kindness, patience, and archival expertise greatly facilitated this phase of research. Many other individuals have been of immense help throughout various stages of this work. Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Kathleen Kilroy-Marac, William Lambert, xiii Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Paula Sharp, and an anonymous reviewer all offered expert advice on earlier drafts. I have profited greatly from discussions with Charlanne Burke, Lisa Colburn, Robert Dewar, Stephen Foster, Ron Kassimir, Susan Kenyon, Michael Lambek, Shirley Lindenbaum, Maman’i’Franck, Mohamed Mbodj, Daniel Raherisoanjato, the Ralaizonias, Hanta and Chris Rideout, Tsiaraso Rachidy IV, Marcia Wright, and Arab, Mariamo, and Neny. Kathleen KilroyMarac and Sarah Sasson assisted with French translations, as did Tiana Ralaizonia and Annie Rabodoarimiadona with those from highland Malagasy. Also, Heather Fisher, Anna Gavin, Evi Rivera, and Chomee Yoon proved invaluable as research assistants at Barnard. Moral and other forms of support have been offered with great kindness, love, and fortitude by Andy and Alex Fox (without whom, frankly, I would not have accomplished this project), as well as my parents and my siblings, Paula and Erik. One could not hope for better friends and colleagues than those I have had at Barnard: Marco Jacquemet, the late Morton Klass, Brian Larkin, Abe Rosman, Nan Rothschild, Paula Rubel, Paul Silverstein, and Maxine Weisgrau have all been wonderfully supportive. I am grateful to Burton Benedict, Elizabeth Colson, and Frederick Dunn for their expert mentoring, and to Jean and John Comaroff, who share my interest in youth identity politics in Africa. I am forever indebted to many people in Ambanja, both old and young, who welcomed me into their schools and homes, offering shelter, good company, and precious interview time, too. Last but not least, I thank my editor, Stanley Holwitz, whose persistent interest in youth has made this published work a reality, alongside other gifted staff at the Press who handled this project with such care, including Rachel Berchten, Peter Dreyer, Diana Feinberg, Kristen Cashman, and Marian McKenna Olivas. Misoatra tompokô lahy sy tompokô vavy. Merci ê jiaby. xiv acknowledgments ...

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