0000000000765630
AUTHOR
Haji H. Chang’a
Habits of contributing citizenship : Self-help groups in rural Tanzania
The chapter examines self-help groups in rural Tanzania as practices in which citizenship habits are formed. Self-help groups are referred as locally organized groups established to address the needs and challenges of the members. From the point of view of pragmatism, self-help groups provide concrete examples of a specific form of associated life and of a general human activeness in addressing shared problems. Based on interviews and focus-group discussions conducted in Kondoa district with local self-help groups, the characteristics of these practices are analyzed through three themes: the kinds of shared problems the groups address, the governance of internal interaction of the groups, a…
Contextualizing citizenship in Tanzania
This chapter describes selected features of the contemporary Tanzania that form the context for learning of citizenship in civil society. The chapter grasps the contextual conditions and circumstances of citizenship in Tanzania by looking at historical evolvement of the notion of development, maendeleo, over the period from colonial eras to the postcolonial single-party system to the contemporary multiparty democracy. The chapter continues with analyses of the moments of donor enthusiasm for civil society and NGOs and the recent debates on the shrinking space of civil society. Essentially, different stages presents different idea of an ideal citizen and also different efforts in order to sh…
Social accountability monitoring as an approach to promoting active citizenship in Tanzania
Social accountability monitoring (SAM) is an approach widely employed by many civil society organizations to promote active participation of people in governance processes, especially in the context where government traditionally is dominant governance actor. This chapter scrutinizes certain attempts to promote change in current citizenship habits obtained through different forms of participation. It discusses how implementation of SAM initiatives encounters multiple context-based factors that affect the expected outcomes. The discussions draw illustrative experiences from local NGO working in Kondoa district to promote change of state-citizens relations in order to improve service delivery…