2 - Entangled Histories of Religious Pluralism and Schooling

Summary

Chapter 2 describes how Christian and Muslim encounters in Dar es Salaam have been shaped by Tanganyika’s/Tanzania’s colonial and postcolonial histories and by related (individual and collective) memories of religious and educational differences. I argue that especially the ‘past-oriented narratives’ of Islamic activists and media actors have become emblematic of the ways in which Muslims perceive their position and status in the wake of globalisation and the market economy. I show that a focus on specific historical events has sustained the moral feeling among Muslims that they are systematically denied access to education and positions of power in contemporary Tanzania. Furthermore, the ‘language gap’ that resulted from Tanzania’s post-independence language policy in education has reinforced the growing popularity of church-run schools in the stratified educational landscape, where a good command of English becomes a condition for success.