Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism: Lessons of the Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union

PREFACE

PREFACE The Pan-Africanist debate is back on the historical agenda. The stresses and strains in the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar since its formation some forty years ago are not showing any sign of abating. Meanwhile, imperialism under new forms and labels continues to bedevil the continent in ever-aggressive, if subtle, ways. The political federation of East Africa, which was one of the main spin-offs of the Pan-Africanism of the nationalist period, is reappearing on the political stage, albeit in a distorted form of regional integration. It is in this context that the present study is situated. When I embarked on this study under the sponsorship of OSSREA some four years ago, it had a very limited scope. The purpose was to address the constitutional foundations of the Tanzanian union and explore the role of courts in resolving disputes between the associating states. As the study proceeded, it became clear to me that constitutional and union issues could not be addressed outside the political context and the historical trajectory of the Union. The resurrection of the Pan-African and East African federation debates further brought home the importance of studying the Union in its wider context from the standpoint of Pan-Africanism. This is what I have tried to do in the book. In more than one way, the Tanganyika-Zanzibar union displays important contradictions and contestations of the proposed continent -wide African union: nationalism versus Pan-Africanism, racial versus cultural nationalism, historical versus political identities , diversities of race, religion, culture versus their politicisation and its results. The Tanganyika-Zanzibar association also provides excellent material for the study of the role of constitutionalism in federalism. These are then the interrelated aspects of the Union question addressed in the book. It is my hope that the study offers xiii important lessons and raises pertinent questions for the new PanAfricanist debate, which, I believe, will be the central theme in the political and intellectual discourses of this century. Issa G. Shivji November, 2007 xiv Preface ...