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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Structural Adjustment and the Fragile Nation: The Demise of Social Unity in Tanzania |
Author: | Kaiser, Paul J. |
Year: | 1996 |
Periodical: | Journal of Modern African Studies |
Volume: | 34 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | June |
Pages: | 227-237 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Tanzania |
Subjects: | economic policy nation Economics and Trade Politics and Government Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/162030 |
Abstract: | Tanzania is one of the few African countries that has remained relatively calm since independence. However, its long history of ethnic, racial, and religious cohesion has begun to fray as the government attempts to reform its ailing economy in accordance with World Bank and IMF conditionalities. The present article explores the degree to which recent religious and racial tensions in Tanzania are related to the ongoing process of economic liberalization. As part of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP), which began in 1986, the government began to sell some of its many parastatals, and in response to this process it was not long before racially motivated questions started to be asked about who should be allowed to move into the rapidly expanding private sector. With the advent of multiparty politics, some opposition leaders stated their desire that Asian Tanzanians should not benefit from the sale of parastatals at the expense of the 'indigenous' inhabitants. The assumed religious cohesion of the nation has also been called into question as the Muslim/Christian divide shows signs of widening. Despite the rhetoric of national unity, political violence has periodically surfaced, notably during the campaigning that preceded the 1995 elections. Notes, ref. |