TANU Women: Gender and Culture in the Making of Tanganyikan Nationalism, 1955-1965

240 Pages·1997·29.398 MB·English

by  Susan Geiger

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Social History of Africa
TANU WOMEN
Social History of Africa Series
Series Editors: Allen Isaacman and Jean Hay
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"
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TANU WOMEN
GENDER AND CULTURE
IN THE MAKING OF
TANGANYIKAN NATIONALISM,
1955-1965
Susan Geiger
HEINEMANN JAMES CURREY E.A.E.P MKUKI NA NYOTA
Portsmouth, NH Oxford Nairobi Dar es Salaam
Heinemann James Currey Ltd E.A.E.P. Mkuki Na Nyota
A division of 73 Botley Road Kijabe Street PO. Box 4246
Reed Elsevier Inc. Oxford 0X2 OBS PO. Box 45314 Dar es Salaam
361 Hanover Street United Kingdom Nairobi Tanzania
Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912 Kenya
Offices and agents throughout the world
© 1997 by Susan Geiger. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be repro¬
duced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including informa¬
tion storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the pub¬
lisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
The author and publisher wish to thank those who have generously given permis¬
sion to reprint borrowed material:
Photo credits: Daily News/Sunday News Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, p. 52, 54, 62, 70,

and 200. Government Information Office of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, p. 112,

192, and 203.
ISBN 0-435-07254-4 (Heinemann cloth)
ISBN 0-435-07421-0 (Heinemann paper)
ISBN 0-85255-679-9 (James Currey cloth)
ISBN 0-85255-629-2 (James Currey paper)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Geiger, Susan
Tanu women: gender and culture in the making of Tanganyikan nationalism,
1955-1965.—(Social history of Africa)
1. Women—Tanganyika—History 2. Nationalism—Tangyanika I. Title
967.8'2'03'082
ISBN 0-85255-629-2 (Paper)
ISBN 0-85255-679-9 (Cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Geiger, Susan.
TANU women: gender and culture in the making of Tanganyikan national¬
ism, 1955-1965 / Susan Geiger,
p. cm. —(Social history of Africa)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-435-07254-4 (cloth).—ISBN 0-435-07421-0 (paper)
1. Women in politics—Tanzania. 2. TANU (Organization). Women's Section—
History. 3. Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanzania—History. 4. Women in develop¬
ment—Tanzania. 5. Women—Tanzania—Social conditions. 6. Nationalism—
Tanzania. 7. Tanzania—Politics and government—1964- I. Title. II. Series.
HQ1236.5.T34G45 1998 97-27010
305.42'06’0678—dc21 CIP
Cover design by Jenny Jensen Greenleaf
Cover photo: Women's March, Dar es Salaam, 1984. Photo by Susan Geiger.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.
00 99 98 97 DA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
For all TANU women, and
For my mother, Susan Geiger, whose
"When will you finish that book?" kept me going, and
For Janet Spector, who never doubted that I would.
CONTENTS
List of Map and Photographs ix
Glossary of Swahili Terms x
Abbreviations Used in the Text xi
Map 1 xii
Preface xiii
1 Introduction 1
The Metanarrative of Tanzanian Nationalism 6
Where are the Women? 9
Women, "Woman/' and Nationalism 12
Past/Present Narratives of Nationalism 13
About My Use of Life History Interviews 15
The Construction of Bibi Titi Mohamed's Life History 17
2 Women in Dar es Salaam: Colonial Ideologies vs. Urban Realities 20
Constructing Gendered African Labor in Colonial Tanzania 21
Dar es Salaam: A Legacy of Hierarchy, Racism, and Neglect 26
Social Engineering and Political Anxieties 27
Women in Dar es Salaam 31
Class, Religion, and the Construction of Urban African Women:
Domesticity vs. "Bad Habits" 38
3 Bibi Titi Mohamed: Dar es Salaam 45
4 Activists and Political Mobilization 64
Women and the Construction of Nationalist Consciousness 66
Tatu Mzee 69
Halima Hamisi 73
Mwamvita Mnyamani 77
Salima Ferouz 79
Mashavu binti Kibonge 81
Binti Kipara 83
Mwasaburi Ali 85
Fatuma Abdallah 87
• •
Vll
• • •
vm Contents
Women's Nationalist Consciousness: Continuity, Collective
Memory, and Affective Community 90
5 Bibi Titi Mohamed: Travel for TANU 92
6 Nationalisms in the Hinterland: Kilimanjaro and Moshi 105
Local Politics and TANU in Northern Province 106
The Club Movement and Kilimanjaro's Women and Girls 109
Badges, Rank, and Federation: Club Politics 111
TANU Townswomen 113
Halima Selengia Kinabo 114
Mwamvita Salim and Zainabu Hatibu 116
Mario Kinabo 119
Violet Njiro 121
Elizabeth Gupta 123
Kanasia Tade Mtenga 125
Natujwa Daniel Mashamba 127
Lucy Lameck 129
7 Nationalism in the Hinterland: Mwanza 135
Politics, Prostitution, and Women in Mwanza 136
TANU Women in Mwanza 139
Agnes Sahani 140
Aziza Lucas 143
Tunu Nyembo 145
Halima Ntungi 146
Mwajuma Msafiri 147
Pili Juma 149
Mwamvua Kibonge 151
Zuhura Mussa 152
The Geita Rebellion 153
Chausiku Mzee 154
"Warudi Bustani" 156
Performing Nationalism 159
8 Bibi Titi Mohamed: Independence and After 163
9 Postscript: Nationalism in Postcolonial Tanzania 185
"Naming:" Bibi Titi Mohamed's Praise Poem 185
From the TANU Women's Section to the UWT, Revisited 189
Lucy Lameck 199
Narrative, Experience, and the Gendered Construction of
Tanganyikan Nationalism 201
Sources 205
Index 213
LIST OF MAP
AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Map 1: Tanzania (Tanganyika) and its environs xii
Photographs
Photo 1: Bibi Titi Mohamed and Julius Nyerere, first public
reunion, October 1984. 2
Photo 2: Bibi Titi in Temeke in 1984 seated before her photograph
as a young singer. 46
Photo 3: Bibi Titi in front of TANU office, Dar es Salaam in 1956. 52
Photo 4: Bibi Titi Mohamed and Dossa Aziz in 1991. 54
Photo 5: Bibi Titi Mohamed, leader of the Women's Section of
TANU, with Julius Nyerere, TANU President, 1956. 62
Photo 6: Tatu binti Mzee, no date. 70
Photo 7: Three "races" of women together: the club ideal in
the 1950s. 112
Photo 8: Agnes Sahani in 1988. 141
Photo 9: Bibi Titi protesting her election defeat November, 1965. 170
Photo 10: UWT group making mats, Kigamboni, 1969. 192
Photo 11: Lucy Lameck, 1960. 200
Photo 12: Women demonstrating in 1994 for a larger role in
multiparty democracy. 203
IX