ISBN 9789976603637
Pages 216
Dimensions 229 x 152 mm
Published 2003
Publisher Dar es Salaam University Press, Tanzania
Format Paperback

Democratic Participation in Tanzania

The Voices of Workers Representatives

by Samuel E. Chambua

In Tanzania in the 1980s economic policy broadly shifted, in line with international trends, from the state to the individual, the public, to the private sector, and to the dominance of market forces. Structural adjustment programmes and a globalisation process dominated by market liberalism increasingly led to the Tanzanian state being forced to adopt financial policies to keep inflation rates low and provide strong returns for investors. Politics changed accordingly and there was a shift in power from elected representatives to capital investors; social welfare and employees' rights were reduced; and democracy was promoted through multiparty politics, but at the expense of workers' participation through trade unions and other autonomous organisations.

This book sets out these developments in detail and argues that democratic participation is in reality clashing with political and economic orthodoxy, in part because of its negative association with left-wing ideologies. Instead the book argues that participation and debate should be considered an ideology in itself, necessary for the very survival of democracy, and a precondition for sustainable development; and advocates unity of all stakeholders - unions, intellectuals and other civil society organisations - in pursuing these ends.

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