Exclusionary Space in Dar es Salaam: Fear and Difference in Expatriate Communities

Exclusion uses a binary classification to create spatial and social separations. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the expatriate population consciously creates spaces of exclusion using a discourse based on comfort, safety, and familiarity. By considering expatriate-dominated spaces desirable and the rest of Dar es Salaam as places of fear and discomfort, the expatriate population limits its activities to a small part of the city and limits its social interactions with nonexpatriates. Fear of crime plays a central role in this exclusion, but Dar es Salaam does not have a major crime problem. Using qualitative and quantitative data, this paper links exclusion and fear in the expatriate population and describes the contradictions inherent in this exclusion.