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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Structural Characteristics of Underdevelopment in the Mafia Archipelago: An Historical Analysis |
Author: | Van Spengen, Wim |
Year: | 1980 |
Periodical: | Cahiers d'études africaines |
Volume: | 20 |
Issue: | 79 |
Pages: | 331-353 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Tanzania |
Subjects: | economic history wealth plantations Bibliography/Research Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration |
External link: | https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1980.2339 |
Abstract: | Purpose of the present article is to identify structural characteristics of a process of underdevelopment that lead to societal inequality within a micro-regional context. The example of the Mafia Archipelago, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean belonging to Tanzania, is taken as illustration. Section: power structure and colonial dominance - the Mafian setting - population history - pre-Omani Mafia - Omani overlordship and European control - structural characteristics of Mafian underdevelopment - socio-religious hierarchy - the plantation system as a mode of production - conclusion: colonial expansion, whether Arab or European, contributed to a dynamic process of underdevelopment, in the course of which socio-cultural inequalities were sharpened to the point where they started to translate themselves into economic inequalities. In addition, the plantation system as a relatively new mode of production to the East African coast proved to be a necessary structural condition in this respect. Maps, notes, ref., tab. |