Best Man Corner – CENTRE FOR PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES

Over 175,000 motorcycle taxi drivers operate across Liberia. Most of them are either former child soldiers or conflict-affected youth who lost out on economic and educational opportunities because of the war. Best Man Corner profiles the young riders of one of Monrovia’s motorcycle taxi ranks, exploring how the ‘motorbike hustle’ is a means of survival but also a form of building peace.

Runtime: 19:02 mins

Main Credits

Director/Producer

Camera

Editor

Research Assistance

Jaremy McMullin

Matthew Hyndman

Tanja Schangin

Kennedy K. Berrian

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What kind of place is Best Man Corner? What are its spatial characteristics? What happens there?

How does Edwin articulate ‘hustling’ and ‘the motorbike hustle’? What features does hustling have and to what extent is it a peacebuilding activity?

Does motorcycle taxi driving facilitate ex-combatant reintegration? How so?

What distinct roles do economic livelihood and social interaction play in the reintegration trajectories of Liberia’s conflict-affected youth?

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Jaremey R. McMullin (2022) ‘Hustling, Cycling, Peacebuilding: Narrating Reintegration through Livelihood in Liberia,’Review of International Studies, 48:1, 67–90.

Jaremey R. McMullin, Deimah Kpar-Kyne McCrownsey, and James Suah Shilue (2024) ‘Good Ones and Bad Ones: Gendered Distortions and Aspirations in Research with Conflict-Affected Youth in Liberia,’ Peacebuilding, 12:4, 575–599.

Jaremey R. McMullin (2022) ‘“What Is the Benefit of this Project?” Representation and Participation in Research on Conflict-Affected Youth,’ Conflict, Security & Development, 22:5, 517–541.

Tatiana Adeline Thieme (2018) ‘The Hustle Economy: Informality, Uncertainty and the Geographies of Getting By,’ Progress in Human Geography, 42:4, 529-548.

Alcinda Honwana (2014) ‘“Waithood”: Youth Transitions and Social Change,’ pp.28-40 in Dick Foeken, ton Dietz, Leo de Haan, and Linda Johnson (eds) Development and Equity: An Interdisciplinary Exploration by Ten Scholars from Africa, Asia and Latin America (Leiden: Brill).

DISCUSSION OF BEST MAN CORNER AT THE TORONTO MOTORCYCLE FILM FESTIVAL

WEB RESOURCES

FEDERATION OF LIBERIAN YOUTH

CENTER FOR SECURITY STUDIES AND DEVELOPMENT (CENSSAD, LIBERIA)