Paper short abstract:

Through ethnographic research with young Muslim men in The Gambia, I explore how their view of both immediate time and future time is marked by their experiences of Islam, precarity, and sport as they look to an array of possible futures which influence their present actions, attitudes and beliefs.

Paper long abstract:

In this article I explore how temporalities are embedded in gendered imaginings of the world derived from multiple divergent forms of masculinity each with their own sometimes secret codification of time. Through ethnographic research with young Gambian men engaged in redefining their futures through a sports-leadership programme, I critically examine how their view of both immediate time and future time is marked by their experiences of time, precarity and sport as an embodied activity and as a global imaginary. I then show how these vectors of masculine becoming interact with a pervasive Islamic masculine culture which teaches a different set of spatio-temporal norms and the West African tradition of ‘blessings’ which involves passing on a spiritual legacy to your family and community. As the young men I worked with made, stole or borrowed time to help themselves and sometimes contradictorily, help their families and friends, this article situates their experiences in relation to anthropological discussions of neoliberal time and the impositions of alien forms of temporality stemming from Christianity, Development and the economic rhythms of the Global North.