<p>It is now forty years after the start of African Socialism, or Ujamaa, in Tanzania. This study examines to what extent Tanzanians still tell their national history in ways which feature the important themes of social change that were introduced by President Julius Nyerere and his political party after independence: increasing equality, popular participation, egalitarian values and self-reliant economic development. The intention of the study is to see to what extent these ideas are still important in the ways that Tanzanians today tell their national history. The study is based on oral history interviews, with Tanzanian expatriates living in Cape Town, and is supplemented by secondary sources on the post-independence and Ujamaa periods. It argues that memory can be affected by current events.</p>

<p>It is now forty years after the start of African Socialism, or Ujamaa, in Tanzania. This study examines to what extent Tanzanians still tell their national history in ways which feature the important themes of social change that were introduced by President Julius Nyerere and his political party after independence: increasing equality, popular participation, egalitarian values and self-reliant economic development. The intention of the study is to see to what extent these ideas are still important in the ways that Tanzanians today tell their national history. The study is based on oral history interviews, with Tanzanian expatriates living in Cape Town, and is supplemented by secondary sources on the post-independence and Ujamaa periods. It argues that memory can be affected by current events.</p>

Magister Artium - MA / It is now forty years after the start of African Socialism, or Ujamaa, in Tanzania. This study examines to what extent Tanzanians still tell their national history in ways which feature the important themes of social change that were introduced by President Julius Nyerere and his political party after independence: increasing equality, popular participation, egalitarian values and self-reliant economic development. The intention of the study is to see to what extent these ideas are still important in the ways that Tanzanians today tell their national history. The study is based on oral history interviews, with Tanzanian expatriates living in Cape Town, and is supplemented by secondary sources on the post-independence and Ujamaa periods. It argues that memory can be affected by current events. / South Africa

Masters of Art / It is now forty years after the start of African Socialism, or Ujamaa, in Tanzania. This study examines to what extent Tanzanians still tell their national history in ways which feature the important themes of social change that were introduced by President Julius Nyerere and his political party after independence: increasing equality, popular participation, egalitarian values and self-reliant economic development

This thesis investigates the perceptions of development held by the supposed beneficiaries of various interventions over time. Development (or maendeleo) has been central to Tanzanian political discourse since the late-colonial era and is still drawn on by government, Civil Society and Non-governmental Organizations alike. This research investigates the period from late-colonialism until the present day, discussing the way in which wazee (older people) in South-Eastern Tanzania interpret development. In other words, this thesis centres on the views held by a group often overlooked in development research in a region that is similarly sidelined. In order to delimit the study in certain important ways, this thesis is framed by three dimensions that are seen as critical to reading development: materiality, place and ‘the past’.Material aspirations are seen as significant herein and are placed alongside the material inequalities between people and places that help to frame older people’s readings of development. These inequalities are partly played out in the differences between places, as in two proximate villages in South-Eastern Tanzania, and the perceptions of place and space are also fundamental to interpreting development. History/‘the past’ and the way in which this is understood and represented is a third and equally important dimension which structures the way in which development is understood by older people, based on their experience of ‘the past’ rather than through historical distinctions imposed from ‘outside’. This thesis offers a multi-disciplinary approach to investigating development, and demonstrates that a thorough engagement with people who have lived through numerous different eras and experienced various interventions, generates complex, place-specific readings of development. Through ethnographic research I have been able to demonstrate the importance of ‘localized’ knowledge although many of those who were interviewed draw from attendant discourses at regional, national and global scales in order to exemplify their arguments. Development is largely understood through absence rather than presence by wazee in South-Eastern Tanzania and with far greater complexity than is often allowed for in more mainstream research into development. Expectations for development have been created over time by various promises of intervention but the perceived failure of many such attempts is seen to further emphasize the absence rather than the presence of development, with older people arguing that they are isolated and ostracised and written out of contemporary development and materially poor. The value placed on uncovering voices that are otherwise lost from debates cannot be overemphasized and this illustrates that development tropes appear far different when the perspectives of wazee are fully analyzed. This thesis, then, challenges mainstream discourse and conventional histories of development and argues for a more engaged and grounded reading of the concept.

Panic over human population growth became a near-global phenomenon in the second half of the twentieth century. International networks encouraged governments to adopt population control methodologies that used state power and national policy to incentivize, and sometimes coerce, lower fertility rates. By the end of the century, the failures and draconian nature of population control led to a rebuke of broad demographic interventions. Population policy shifted toward a reproductive rights framework that privileged individual prerogative over any national agenda. My research introduces a conceptual middle ground that allows for coordinated state programming in the face of undesirable demographic trajectories, while also upholding a spectrum of individual liberty – what I call “population management.” The model for population management is not hypothetical, but materialized in Tanzania during the Ujamaa era that lasted roughly two decades from 1967 to 1986. Through robust leadership, a sense of imagined kinship, moral nuance, and an active policymaking coalition, Tanzania nurtured an approach to changing demographics that centered population within its broader postcolonial development project. Population management encouraged reciprocal state and community action to assuage problems brought on by an increasing population, including education reforms, diversified family planning, and public health campaigns. The flexible concept of “responsible parenthood” kept varying groups of government actors, religious authorities, women’s organizations, community leaders, and health practitioners on the same page, as their multiplicity of lived experience helped define and inform policy. Tanzania’s population management agenda reframes the historical narrative away from a binary of state control versus individual rights, and provides a model for future policymaking. Combating the attendant problems of population change requires broad networks working together, which makes collaboration and flexibility key to maintaining collective action. As global demographic agendas diverge with rapid population growth in regions of Africa and depopulation in high-income countries, governments will need to adopt contextualized population policies that acknowledge unique historical, personal, and local sensitivities. / 2022-07-15T00:00:00Z

In the 1960s, when most African nations gained their independence after the age of colonialism, several theories and strategies emerged with the goal of "developing" these apparently "underdeveloped" territories. One of the most influential approaches for this task was represented in Julius K. Nyerere´s idea of Ujamaa, the Tanzanian version of African socialism. Even before the Arusha Declaration established Ujamaa as a national development strategy in 1967, several groups of politicized young farmers took to the empty countryside of Tanzania to implement their own version of cooperative development. From one of these attempts emerged the Ruvuma Development Association (RDA), which organized up to 18 villages in southwestern Tanzania. The RDA became the inspiration for Nyerere´s concretization of Ujamaa and its implementation on national level. Yet, the central state could not replicate the success of the peasants, which was based on voluntariness and intrinsic motivation. In 2015, this exploratory study has revisited the Region of Ruvuma. Through a case study approach, relying mostly on qualitative methods, new insights into the local history of Ujamaa and its perception have been gathered. In particular, narrative interviews with contemporary witnesses and group interviews with the present-day farmers’ groups have been conducted. Furthermore, NGOs active within the region, as well as regional and local government institutions were among the key stakeholders identified to concretize the local narrative of Ujamaa development. All interviews were analyzed according to the principles of qualitative content analysis. Additionally, individual villager questionnaires were used to achieve a more holistic picture of the local perception of development, challenges and the Ujamaa era. None of the original Ujamaa groups of the times of the RDA was still operational at the time of research and no case of village-wide organization of collective agriculture could be observed. Nevertheless, in all of the three case study villages, several farmers’ groups (vikundi) were active in organizing development activities for their members. Furthermore, the perception of the Ujamaa era was generally positive throughout all of the case study sites. Yet, there have been significant differences in this perception, based on the village, age, gender and field size of the recipients. Overall, the period of Ujamaa was seen as an inspiration for present-day group activities, and the idea of such activities as a remedy for the developmental challenges of these villages was common among all stakeholders. This thesis concludes that the positive perception of group activities as a vehicle for village development and the perception of Ujamaa history as a positive asset for the inception and organization of farmers’ groups would be highly beneficial to further attempts to support such development activities. However, the limitations in market access and capital availability for these highly-motivated group members have to be addressed by public and private development institutions. Otherwise, "the smell of Ujamaa" will be of little use for the progress of these villages. / In den 1960er Jahren, als die meisten Nationen Afrikas ihre Unabhängigkeit erlangten, entstanden etliche Strategien und Theorien, welche die "Entwicklung" dieser „unterentwickelten“ Territorien zum Ziel hatten. Einer der einflussreichsten Ansätze für dieses Ziel war Julius K. Nyereres Idee von Ujamaa, der tansanischen Variante des afrikanischen Sozialismus. Noch bevor die Arusha Deklaration Ujamaa 1967 als nationale Entwicklungsstrategie verankerte, versuchten sich verschiedene Gruppen junger, politisierter Bauern an ihrer eigenen Version der kooperativen Entwicklung im dünn besiedelten ländlichen Raum Tansanias. Aus einem dieser Versuche ging die Ruvuma Development Association (RDA) hervor, welche bis zu 18 Dörfer im Südwesten des Landes organisierte. Die RDA wurde die Inspiration für Nyereres Konkretisierung von Ujamaa, sowie dessen Umsetzung auf nationaler Ebene. Allerdings war der Zentralstaat nicht in der Lage, den auf Freiwilligkeit und intrinsischer Motivation beruhenden Erfolg dieser einfachen Bauern zu reproduzieren. Die vorliegende explorative Studie wurde 2015 in der Region Ruvuma durchgeführt und konnte durch einen, im wesentlich auf qualitativen Methoden beruhenden, Case-Study Ansatz neue Einblicke in die lokale Ujamaa-Geschichte sowie deren Wahrnehmung sammeln. Insbesondere wurden narrative Zeitzeugeninterviews und Gruppeninterviews mit heutigen Bauerngruppen durchgeführt. Zur Konkretisierung des lokalen Narratives der Ujamaa Entwicklung wurden zudem in der Region aktive NGOs sowie Regional- und Kommunalverwaltung befragt. Alle Interviews wurden mittels qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet. Zusätzlich dienten, an individuelle Dorfbewohner gerichtete, Fragebögen zur Herausarbeitung eines umfassenden Bildes der lokalen Wahrnehmung von Entwicklung, Herausforderungen und der Ujamaa Ära an sich. Keine der ursprünglichen Ujamaa Gruppen war zum Zeitpunkt der Erhebung noch aktiv. Ebenso konnte kein Fall einer das ganze Dorf umfassenden kollektiven Landwirtschaft beobachtet werden – kleinere Bauerngruppen (vikundi) kristallisierten sich dagegen als rezente Form kooperativer Entwicklungsmodelle heraus. Darüber hinaus war die Wahrnehmung der Ujamaa Ära in allen untersuchten Dörfern überwiegend positiv. Jedoch zeigten sich signifikante Unterschiede dieser Wahrnehmung bezüglich des Wohnortes, des Alters, des Geschlechts und der Größe des Feldes der Befragten. Insgesamt wurde die Zeit von Ujamaa als eine Inspiration für heutige gruppenbasierte Entwicklungsaktivitäten gesehen, welche wiederum von allen Akteuren als Möglichkeit zur Überwindung der Entwicklungsprobleme dieser Dörfer gesehen wurden. Diese Dissertation kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die positive Wahrnehmung von Gruppenaktivitäten als ein Instrument zur kommunalen Entwicklung und die Wahrnehmung der Ujamaa Ära als ein positives "Asset" für die Gründung und Organisation von vikundi sehr vorteilhafte Voraussetzungen für weitere Entwicklungsaktivitäten bieten. Allerdings fehlen diesen Gruppen Kapital und Marktzugang. Dies muss von staatlichen wie nichtstaatlichen Entwicklungsorganisationen angegangen werden, andernfalls wird der "smell of Ujamaa" wenig zum Fortschritt in diesen Dörfern beitragen.

The only play by Kezilahabi, Marx`s shorts, is a political satire, so pungent that it has not yet been published, although its photocopied manuscript has been in circulation for almost twenty years (it is dated 1978). Probably it was written soon after Julius Nyerere`s pamphlet Azzmio la Arusha baada ya Miaka Kumi (1977), where he overtly admitted for the first time the failure of his policy, clearing the way for critical literary works.

The only play by Kezilahabi, Marx`s shorts, is a political satire, so pungent that it has not yet been published, although its photocopied manuscript has been in circulation for almost twenty years (it is dated 1978). Probably it was written soon after Julius Nyerere`s pamphlet Azzmio la Arusha baada ya Miaka Kumi (1977), where he overtly admitted for the first time the failure of his policy, clearing the way for critical literary works.

The present study is a political biography in the broad sense of Julius Karambage Nyerere. The main perspective has been his significance for nation-building in Tanzania. The dissertation is chronologically ordered after his life and restricted to the period 1922-1977. Five themes discussed in modern scholarship on nationalism and which are considered relevant to the study of African nationalism are treated: The origin and globalization of nationalism. From the perspective of the process of global nation-building, Nyerere's activities as nationalist leader in Tanzania are discussed, which contrary to his own wishes only embraced the former colonies Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Constructivism versus realism. Here it is shown that nationalism in Africa largely followed the colonial borders and were thus constructions without any connection to historically-relevant ethnic or cultural borders. The relationship between nationalism and modernity. The fundamental problematic in Nyerere's modernizing ambitions, i.e. to unite individual and collective interests in an harmonic interplay in the name of development, is treated. Strategies for nationalizing a populace. Here, the evolution of Nyerere's social vision - ujamaa or familyhood, is described. From the central idea of Tanzanian nationalism - development - the nationalists' construction of traditional African society would unite with modern society, in accordance with the basic ideas of African socialism. The significance of an elite for nation-building. In common with nationalism's development in Europe, African nationalism was led by elites. The transformation from "Black European" to "African Personality" went via education, primarily provided by Christian missionaries in Africa. Nyerere's education familiarized him with British colonialism, nationalism and cultural heritage as well as the British School of Social Anthropology, Catholic social teachings and communitarianism. The study shows that Nyerere's political thought was influenced by Fabian socialism, Catholic social teaching, communitarianism and political thinkers like Henry George, G.D.H. Cole, R.H. Tawney and Arthur W. Lewis. Nyerere realized his political ideas first as leader of the nationalist movement Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and after independence in 1961 as president up until 1985. He was called the "father of the nation" and ruled in his charismatic role as mwalimu, teacher. / digitalisering@umu