ISBN 9782869781832
Pages 320
Dimensions 229 x 152 mm
Published 2006
Publisher CODESRIA, Senegal
Format Paperback

Let the People Speak

Tanzania Down the Road to Neo-Liberalism

by Issa G. Shivji

The African national project has been defeated, and the imperial/globalisation project is on the offensive. And yet, as Issa Shivji, one of Africa’s most distinguished public intellectuals, argues in this collection of essays, there is bound to be a backlash – witness Latin America. African scholars are already debating the resurgence of nationalism and Pan-Africanism, and searching for alternative paths of development and democracy.

The ninety essays contained in this book are selected by the author from his writings published in newspaper columns during the period 1990-2005, a critical time in Tanzania that witnessed the rise and fall of nationalism, and transition to and consolidation of neo-liberalism. The essays give an overview of the intellectual history and traditions in Tanzania, one of the few countries in Africa which can still boast of political stability and reasonable openness. The writings reflect the hopes and fears of the progressive intellectual community, and project a strong sense of the enduring ideas and values in the period. The author’s aims are to recover the history of the recent past in Tanzania, build a narrative of where the country is coming from, and provide a historical understanding of the events and climate of the present.

The essays give an overview of the intellectual history and traditions in Tanzania, one of the few countries in Africa which can still boast of political stability and reasonable openness. The writings reflect the hopes and fears of the progressive intellectual community, and project a strong sense of the enduring ideas and values in the period. The author’s aims are to recover the history of the recent past in Tanzania, build a narrative of where the country is coming from, and provide a historical understanding of the events and climate of the present.

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Review

"This is an extraordinary record of one country’s descent into ‘neo-liberalism’, which roughly translated means socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. Issa Shivji’s shrewd eye concentrates on Tanzania but his stories could be from almost anywhere in Africa, if not the world."

John Pilger

About the Author

Issa G. Shivji

Issa G. Shivji is one of Africa's leading experts on law and development issues. Shivji has served as advocate of the high court and the Court of Appeal of Tanzania since 1977 and advocate of the high court in Zanzibar since 1989. He has taught and worked in universities all over the world, including the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Warwick, the University of Hong Kong and El Colegio De Mexico. He is a retired Professor of Public Law and first holder of the Julius Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan-African Studies of the University of Dar es Salaam. He has published over a dozen books, including “Class Struggles in Tanzania” (1976), “The Concept of Human Rights in Africa” (1989) and “Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism: Lessons of Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union” (2008).

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