Ujamaa

Ujamaa was the concept that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania just after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. In 1967, President Nyerere published his development blueprint titled the Arusha Declaration, in which Nyerere pointed out the need for an African model of development and which formed the basis of African socialism. Ujamaa comes from the Swahili word for "extended family" or "familyhood" and is distinguished by several key characteristics, namely that a person becomes a person "through the people" or community. For Nyerere, an African "extended family" means that every individual is in the service of the community.cite book | first=Philip | last=McMichael | title=Development and Social Change | year=2000 | location=Thousand Oaks | publisher=Pine Forge Press] Thus, Ujamaa is characterized by a community where co-operation and collective advancement are the rationale of every individual's existence. According to Ujamaa, personal acquisitiveness is prohibited, thus allowing the distribution of wealth through society "horizontally" rather than "vertically."

Nyerere used Ujamaa as the basis for a national development project. He translated the Ujamaa concept into a political-economic management model through several means:

# The creation of a one-party system under the leadership of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) in order to help solidify the cohesion of the newly independent Tanzania.
# The institutionalization of social, economic and political equality through the creation of a central democracy, the abolition of discrimination based on ascribed status, and the nationalization of the economy's key sectors.cite journal | first=Cranford | last=Pratt | year=1999 | title=Julius Nyerere: Reflections on the Legacy of his Socialism | journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies | volume=33 | issue=1 | pages=137 – 52 | doi=10.2307/486390]
# The villagization of production which essentially collectivized all forms of local productive capacity;
# The fostering of Tanzanian self-reliance through two dimensions: the transformation of economic attitudes and cultural attitudes. Economically, everyone would work for both the group and for him/herself; culturally, Tanzanians must learn to free themselves from dependence on European powers. For Nyerere, this included Tanzanians learning to do things for themselves and learning to be satisfied with what they could achieve as an independent state.
# The implementation of free and compulsory education for all Tanzanians in order to sensitize them to the principles of Ujamaa.

Eventually a number of factors contributed to the downfall of the development model based on the Ujamaa concept. Among those factors were the oil crisis of the 1970s, the collapse of export commodity prices (particularly coffee and sisal), a lack of foreign direct investment, and the onset of the war with Uganda in 1978 which bled the young Tanzanian nation of valuable resources.

The Hip Hop Scene in Tanzania was greatly influenced by the key ideas and themes of Ujamaa. In 1967 after President Nyerere introduced a new political ideology, which he promised would deliberate Tanzanians from global imperialism, was abandoned by following Tanzanian politicians, the princinples of Ujamma were once again resurrected through "an unlikely source: rappers and hip hop artists in the streets of Tanzania". [ Lemelle, Sidney J. “‘Ni wapi Tunakwenda’: Hip Hop Culture and the Children of Arusha.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Pres ] In response to years of corrupt government leaders and political figures after Nyerere, themes of unity and family and equality were the messages sent out in a majority of the music being produced. This was in response to the working class oppression and in some sense a form of resistance. [Lemelle, Sidney J. “‘Ni wapi Tunakwenda’: Hip Hop Culture and the Children of Arusha.” In The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle, 230-54. London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Pres] The principals of cooperative economics "local people cooperating with each other to provide for the essentials of living" [ [http://austinweeklynews.1upsoftware.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=455&TM=2172.822 Denied:1up! Software ] ] can be seen in the lyrics of many Tanzanian hip hop artists. They promote self-business and self-made identities in an effort to raise the spirits of the youth and promote change in society.
*Harambee
*Ubuntu

References

External links

* [http://www.nathanielturner.com/ujamaanyerere.htm Ujamaa: The Basis of African Socialism:] , nathanielturner.com
* Ibhawoh, Bonny and J.I. Dibua, PDFlink| [http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/political%20science/volume8n1/ajps008001004.pdf "Deconstructing Ujamaa: The Legacy of Julius Nyerere in the Quest for Social and Economic Development"] |1.30 MiB in "African Journal of Political Science" Vol.8 No. 1, 2003: 59-83