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Youth, the Tanu Youth League and Managed Vigilantism in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 1925–73

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

James R. Brennan
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Abstract

This article examines the role of male youth in the political history of Dar es Salaam. ‘Youth’, as a category of opposition to elders, became important during the inter-war period as it was inhabited by educated African bureaucrats aspiring to representation in urban politics over the traditional claims of authority by local ethnic Zaramo and Shomvi elders. This group of bureaucrats grew in power through the popularization of racial-nationalist politics, and in the 1950s formed the Tanganyika African Nationalist Party (TANU), which instituted its own category of ‘youth’ with the creation of the TANU Youth League (TYL). Consisting mainly of young, under-employed men who failed to obtain sufficient educational qualifications, the Youth League challenged the late colonial state's theoretical monopoly over violence through voluntary and aggressive policing activities. After the work of independence was complete, there was practical way to demobilize this enormous, semi-autonomous police and intelligence-gathering force. The repeated reassertion of party control over its Youth League took many forms in the decade after independence – through the creation of a National Service and the militarization of development; frequent nationalist events and rituals where Youth League members controlled public space; and a war on urban morality led by Youth League shock troops. Control over youth also offered a potentially autonomous patrimony for ambitious TANU party members. The 1970s witnessed the beginning of the general failure of both state and party to generate sufficient resources to serve as a patron to patron-seeking youth, which has effectively decentralized youth violence and vigilantism ever since. A political history of ‘youth’, both as a social category and political institution, can shed further light on contemporary dilemmas of youth violence, meanings of citizenship, and hidden motors of party politics.

Résumé

Cet article examine le rôle de la jeunesse masculine dans l'histoire politique de Dar es Salaam. La ≫jeunesse≪, en tant que catégorie d'opposition aux anciens, a pris son importance pendant la période d'entre deux guerres, au cours de laquelle des bureaucrates africains instruits aspiraient à être représentés dans la politique urbaine face aux revendications d'autorité traditionnelles exercées par les anciens locaux des ethnies Zaramo et Shomvi. Ce groupe de bureaucrates a gagné en pouvoir à travers la popularisation d'une politique raciale nationaliste, et forma dans les années 1950 un nouveau parti baptisé Tanganyika African Nationalist Union (TANU), qui instituait sa propre catégorie de ≫jeunes≪ avec la création d'une ligue de la jeunesse, la TANU Youth League (TYL). Cette ligue de la jeunesse, constituée essentiellement d'hommes jeunes sousemployés sans qualifications suffisantes, remettait en cause le monopole théorique de l'ancien État colonial sur la violence à travers des activités de police volontaires et agressives. Une fois l'action d'indépendance achevée, les moyens pratiques de démobiliser cette énorme police semi-autonome et force de renseignements étaient limités. La réaffirmation répétée du contrôle du parti sur la TYL a pris diverses formes au cours de la décennie qui a suivi l'indépendance: création d'un Service national et militarisation du développement, manifestations nationalistes fréquentes et rituels dans lesquels les membres de la TYL contrôlaient l'espace public, guerre sur le thème de la moralité urbaine menée par des troupes de choc de la TYL. Le contrôle exercé sur ces jeunes offrait par ailleurs aux membres ambitieux de la TANU un patrimoine potentiellement autonome. Les années 1970 ont vu le début de l'incapacité générale, tant de la part de l'État que du parti, à générer des ressources suffisantes pour servir de patrons aux jeunes en quête de patron, ce qui a eu pour effet de décentraliser la violence des jeunes et le vigilantisme. Une histoire politique de la ≫jeunesse≪, en tant que catégorie sociale et institution politique, peut nous éclairer sur les dilemmes contemporains que sont la violence des jeunes, les significations de la citoyenneté et lesmoteurs cachés de la politique des partis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 76 , Issue 2 , May 2006 , pp. 221 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2006

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