The Rule of Law and Ujamaa in the Ideological Formation of Tanzania
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Date
1995-06
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SAGE Publications
Abstract
The article investigates the extent to which the ideology of rule of law serves to mobilize consent in the Tanzanian formation. It reviews the position in the extant literature which argues that the failure of the rule of law as a legitimizing ideology in African political formations is largely because of the incapacity of the African ruling classes to sustain such a project given the dependent or neo-colonial economic conditions of their societies. The article questions whether this is the sole explanation and puts forward the position that the rule of law ideology is not necessarily resonant with the world view of popular classes in Tanzania. In this regard, it is argued that the Western debate on the rule of law as an 'unqualified good' and the focus on rights struggle are not uncritically transferable to an African situation. It calls for an intellectual break from the current celebration of liberalism, constitutionalism and human rights as the only, or even the principal, alternative ideologies for a popular project of social emancipation and national liberation.
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Full text can be accessed at the following linl http://sls.sagepub.com/content/4/2/147.extract
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Citation
Shivji, I. (1995). The Rule of Law and Ujamaa in the Ideological Formation of Tanzania. Social & Legal Studies, 4(2), 147-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/096466399500400201