Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism

Lessons of the Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union

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. Backgrounding the major dramas of the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar this book studies the personalities involved and their politics, and includes an account of the Dodoma CCM conference that toppled President Jumbe. It is also a detailed legal analysis of the union incorporating powerful new material.

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Reviews

"Once again, Professor Shivji has come out with a compelling book that will force us to scratch our heads and think, a work so powerful and so insightful that it will be well nigh impossible for anyone who will have read it to engage in any discource about political and constitutional developments in Zanzibar, or nature, history and problems of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, without making reference to it...This book is a masterpiece, a must read.": Africa Review of Books