Analyses of neo-liberal change in African mining tend to frame discussion through the lens of an ... more Analyses of neo-liberal change in African mining tend to frame discussion through the lens of an overarching structural perspective. Far less attention has been paid to the way change is enacted within social relations in mining communities. To this end, our chapter considers how development in the Tanzanian mineral sector transforms people’s relationships and stimulates new iterations of power and agency within local trajectories of development, focusing on the case of artisanal gold mining in Mgusu village in Geita region, Tanzania. The aim is to trace how neo-liberal change configures market rationality and property relations in ways that can fundamentally alter social relationships within the local community, occupational groups and families, raising both opportunities for wealth accumulation and the potential to entrench poverty. The creative action involved in these processes generates new associational ties and repertoires of practice, as miners’ respond to change and the need to protect their livelihoods.
Studies examining the vulnerability, resilience and adaptation options of fisheries-dependent coa... more Studies examining the vulnerability, resilience and adaptation options of fisheries-dependent coastal communities have noted a decrease in viable options to respond effectively to the impacts of climate change. The extent of vulnerability is experienced in terms of varying capacity to respond to ecological changes through resource use practices. We analyzed the experiences of three coastal communities dependent on small pelagic fisheries in Tanga region, Tanzania, and their responses to the changing availability of fisheries resources. The study illustrates how conditions associated with upwelling, while not readily obvious to fishers, match some of their fishing strategies, with implications for fisheries-dependent livelihoods. Yet, the fishers’ perceptions are key determinants of the response options they adopt. Limited access to scientific knowledge also constrains the effectiveness of their response options. Our findings have important implications for the manner in which local ...
Women’s engagement in rural land sales has been a significant aspect of land tenure dynamics with... more Women’s engagement in rural land sales has been a significant aspect of land tenure dynamics with varied implications to their livelihoods and wellbeing. However, the factors that influence women’s decisions and the modalities of such engagement have not received much attention in social analysis, specifically with regard to women’s perceptions, responses and actions towards land sales, especially in situations of land shortage. In the context where multiple and interacting factors are continuing to transform rural land tenure patterns, this article discusses the varied implications of recent land sales to women, with possible extension of their vulnerabilities, yet also re-invigorating women’s agency regarding land ownership rights. Using a feminist political-ecological perspective, this article shows how women act under constraining circumstances to transform gender relations and patterns of land ownership with varying outcomes to their wellbeing. The findings also suggest deeper ...
This study addresses some limitations in the understanding of the relationship between micro-cred... more This study addresses some limitations in the understanding of the relationship between micro-credit facilities and women's empowerment, particularly when seen in terms of micro-credit's capacity to reduce the vulnerabilities of resource-poor households and to encourage women's engagement in providing for themselves with basic needs. Although such empowerment, seen through its material implications, may be limited in confronting macro-structural processes within which exclusion and exploitation are firmly rooted, many studies put less emphasis on how it may stimulate women’s self-appreciation and agency. Using a qualitative analysis of Village Community Banks (VICOBA) in Tanzania, this article shows how women experience ownership of the processes related to VICOBA as a resource for agency, and how, through such ownership, they claim empowerment as individuals; and interpret their actions within VICOBA as expressive of their subjective well-being.
Tanzania, which has for decades been seen as an impoverished agrarian country, is metamorphosing ... more Tanzania, which has for decades been seen as an impoverished agrarian country, is metamorphosing into a significant diamond and gold producer on the African continent over the last two decades. Small-scale miners have played a central role in this transformation. This chapter traces mining as a 'frontier livelihood' and 'mining-led urbanisation' in two northwestern Tanzanian settlements: Maganzo, a long-established diamond-ming settlement in Shinyanga region and Nyarugusu, a gold-mining site in Mwanza region which experienced its first significant rush in the 1980s. Our interest focuses on the unfolding phases of livelihood settlement transformation following the original population surge connected with mineral discovery.
Research in Comparative and International Education, 2011
Social development policies in Tanzania are exemplary in terms of their recognition of the rights... more Social development policies in Tanzania are exemplary in terms of their recognition of the rights of access to higher education institutions by specific demographic groups. Policy documents such as the 2005 National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (known as the MKUKUTA) and the 2004 National Policy on Disability emphasise this necessity and outline the government's commitment to ensure that people who are socially disadvantaged, including those with disabilities, can equally access higher education. The process through which this is achieved is, however, less explicit and is therefore difficult to measure in relation to what students with disabilities actually experience as they not only pursue, but also experience higher education. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, this article analyses the process of access into higher education institutions and outcomes in terms of representation in higher education institutions by students with disabilities. In doing...
This article explores the contribution that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) makes to pover... more This article explores the contribution that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) makes to poverty reduction in Tanzania, drawing on findings from research on gold and diamond mining in Mwanza Region. The evidence suggests that people working in mining or related services are less ...
Analyses of neo-liberal change in African mining tend to frame discussion through the lens of an ... more Analyses of neo-liberal change in African mining tend to frame discussion through the lens of an overarching structural perspective. Far less attention has been paid to the way change is enacted within social relations in mining communities. To this end, our chapter considers how development in the Tanzanian mineral sector transforms people’s relationships and stimulates new iterations of power and agency within local trajectories of development, focusing on the case of artisanal gold mining in Mgusu village in Geita region, Tanzania. The aim is to trace how neo-liberal change configures market rationality and property relations in ways that can fundamentally alter social relationships within the local community, occupational groups and families, raising both opportunities for wealth accumulation and the potential to entrench poverty. The creative action involved in these processes generates new associational ties and repertoires of practice, as miners’ respond to change and the need to protect their livelihoods.
Studies examining the vulnerability, resilience and adaptation options of fisheries-dependent coa... more Studies examining the vulnerability, resilience and adaptation options of fisheries-dependent coastal communities have noted a decrease in viable options to respond effectively to the impacts of climate change. The extent of vulnerability is experienced in terms of varying capacity to respond to ecological changes through resource use practices. We analyzed the experiences of three coastal communities dependent on small pelagic fisheries in Tanga region, Tanzania, and their responses to the changing availability of fisheries resources. The study illustrates how conditions associated with upwelling, while not readily obvious to fishers, match some of their fishing strategies, with implications for fisheries-dependent livelihoods. Yet, the fishers’ perceptions are key determinants of the response options they adopt. Limited access to scientific knowledge also constrains the effectiveness of their response options. Our findings have important implications for the manner in which local ...
Women’s engagement in rural land sales has been a significant aspect of land tenure dynamics with... more Women’s engagement in rural land sales has been a significant aspect of land tenure dynamics with varied implications to their livelihoods and wellbeing. However, the factors that influence women’s decisions and the modalities of such engagement have not received much attention in social analysis, specifically with regard to women’s perceptions, responses and actions towards land sales, especially in situations of land shortage. In the context where multiple and interacting factors are continuing to transform rural land tenure patterns, this article discusses the varied implications of recent land sales to women, with possible extension of their vulnerabilities, yet also re-invigorating women’s agency regarding land ownership rights. Using a feminist political-ecological perspective, this article shows how women act under constraining circumstances to transform gender relations and patterns of land ownership with varying outcomes to their wellbeing. The findings also suggest deeper ...
This study addresses some limitations in the understanding of the relationship between micro-cred... more This study addresses some limitations in the understanding of the relationship between micro-credit facilities and women's empowerment, particularly when seen in terms of micro-credit's capacity to reduce the vulnerabilities of resource-poor households and to encourage women's engagement in providing for themselves with basic needs. Although such empowerment, seen through its material implications, may be limited in confronting macro-structural processes within which exclusion and exploitation are firmly rooted, many studies put less emphasis on how it may stimulate women’s self-appreciation and agency. Using a qualitative analysis of Village Community Banks (VICOBA) in Tanzania, this article shows how women experience ownership of the processes related to VICOBA as a resource for agency, and how, through such ownership, they claim empowerment as individuals; and interpret their actions within VICOBA as expressive of their subjective well-being.
Tanzania, which has for decades been seen as an impoverished agrarian country, is metamorphosing ... more Tanzania, which has for decades been seen as an impoverished agrarian country, is metamorphosing into a significant diamond and gold producer on the African continent over the last two decades. Small-scale miners have played a central role in this transformation. This chapter traces mining as a 'frontier livelihood' and 'mining-led urbanisation' in two northwestern Tanzanian settlements: Maganzo, a long-established diamond-ming settlement in Shinyanga region and Nyarugusu, a gold-mining site in Mwanza region which experienced its first significant rush in the 1980s. Our interest focuses on the unfolding phases of livelihood settlement transformation following the original population surge connected with mineral discovery.
Research in Comparative and International Education, 2011
Social development policies in Tanzania are exemplary in terms of their recognition of the rights... more Social development policies in Tanzania are exemplary in terms of their recognition of the rights of access to higher education institutions by specific demographic groups. Policy documents such as the 2005 National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (known as the MKUKUTA) and the 2004 National Policy on Disability emphasise this necessity and outline the government's commitment to ensure that people who are socially disadvantaged, including those with disabilities, can equally access higher education. The process through which this is achieved is, however, less explicit and is therefore difficult to measure in relation to what students with disabilities actually experience as they not only pursue, but also experience higher education. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, this article analyses the process of access into higher education institutions and outcomes in terms of representation in higher education institutions by students with disabilities. In doing...
This article explores the contribution that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) makes to pover... more This article explores the contribution that artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) makes to poverty reduction in Tanzania, drawing on findings from research on gold and diamond mining in Mwanza Region. The evidence suggests that people working in mining or related services are less ...
This report is a contribution to a “people-oriented” focus on contemporary change in Tanzania. I... more This report is a contribution to a “people-oriented” focus on contemporary change in Tanzania. It is the product of an exploratory study, commissioned by SIDA through the Development Studies Unit at the Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University.
The study was designed to reach some broad conclusions about social, economic and cultural change in rural and peri-urban communities of mainland Tanzania, drawing on the best previous accounts of rural problems and tendencies of change, together with some “rapid” but fairly widely-spread field research. The approach adopted had a frankly experimental character. It was conceived as a means of addressing the shortage of up-to-date information on the ways people in rural localities have perceived, coped with and been affected by recent changes in the macro-economy and national political system. One of the objectives of the work was to provide a “trial run” of one possible methodology for addressing this kind of gap in our understanding of contemporary change in Africa.
An initial desk study was followed by six weeks’ investigation by a team of Tanzanian and British researchers during June-July 1992. A total of twelve villages were visited. These were chosen so as to provide the widest range of cultural, socio-economic and ecological conditions consistent with a practicable itinerary and a sensible use of the ethnographic knowledge and previous experience of members of the team. The research employed focus-group discussions and other qualitative research techniques. The report draws on previous research by members of the team, as well as on a survey of relevant work by other scholars.
The substantive findings of the study relate directly or indirectly to two issues of interest to SIDA and the wider community concerned about socio-economic and political trends in Tanzania today:
• the responses of members of rural communities -- including in particular, the poorest groups, women and young people -- to the process of economic liberalisation (decontrol) initiated in 1984 and enshrined in various international agreements since 1986; and
• the reception by the same groups of the recent (1992) constitutional reforms leading towards the adoption of a multi-party political system.
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The study was designed to reach some broad conclusions about social, economic and cultural change in rural and peri-urban communities of mainland Tanzania, drawing on the best previous accounts of rural problems and tendencies of change, together with some “rapid” but fairly widely-spread field research. The approach adopted had a frankly experimental character. It was conceived as a means of addressing the shortage of up-to-date information on the ways people in rural localities have perceived, coped with and been affected by recent changes in the macro-economy and national political system. One of the objectives of the work was to provide a “trial run” of one possible methodology for addressing this kind of gap in our understanding of contemporary change in Africa.
An initial desk study was followed by six weeks’ investigation by a team of Tanzanian and British researchers during June-July 1992. A total of twelve villages were visited. These were chosen so as to provide the widest range of cultural, socio-economic and ecological conditions consistent with a practicable itinerary and a sensible use of the ethnographic knowledge and previous experience of members of the team. The research employed focus-group discussions and other qualitative research techniques. The report draws on previous research by members of the team, as well as on a survey of relevant work by other scholars.
The substantive findings of the study relate directly or indirectly to two issues of interest to SIDA and the wider community concerned about socio-economic and political trends in Tanzania today:
• the responses of members of rural communities -- including in particular, the poorest groups, women and young people -- to the process of economic liberalisation (decontrol) initiated in 1984 and enshrined in various international agreements since 1986; and
• the reception by the same groups of the recent (1992) constitutional reforms leading towards the adoption of a multi-party political system.