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Building democracy from below: a case from rural Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2008

Katherine A. Snyder
Katherine A. Snyder*
Affiliation:
Queens College, City University of New York, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY11367, USA
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Focusing on events in a rural village in Tanzania during 2001–02, this paper examines the changing nature of state/society relations in Tanzania. Drawing on experience from previous years of fieldwork in the early 1990s, it becomes apparent that villagers are beginning to change the way they engage with the state. These new approaches are framed in part by the discourse of democracy, with which Tanzanians have become familiar since the economic and political liberalisation policies of the 1990s. These events reveal a new sense of the right to participate in decision-making on how to use key development resources. They also illustrate how local elites can threaten to capture benefits for their own gain. As Tanzanians begin to demand more rights to participate in the public sphere, their achievements enlarge our understanding of what might constitute civil society.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 287 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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Interviews

Ayaguuma female resident, Hareabi Village, Mbulu District, Manyara Region, 17.02.2002.

Hareabi Village Chairman, Mbulu District, Manyara Region, 17.02.2002.

Hareabi Village male resident, Mbulu District, Manyara Region, 18.02.2002.

Kainam Ward Executive Officer, Mbulu District, Manyara Region, 18.02.2002.

Mbulu, Manyara Region, District Commissioner, 15.02.2002.

Slaa, Dr Wilbrod, Member of Parliament, Dar es Salaam' 02.08.2002, and email communication October 2003.

Tsaayo Qwalach male resident, Hareabi Village, Mbulu District, Manyara Region, 17.02.2002.