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RESEARCH

Desire and Decline: Schooling Amid Crisis in Tanzania (2003, Peter Lang Publishing)

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Synopsis

How can one explain the centrality of women’s education to the field of international development today? Through ethnographic and textual analyses, Desire and Decline explores the privileged place of education in local, national, and global development discourses about population, HIV/AIDS, and environmental conservation. Desire signals the global consensus on the view that formal education in schools is central to solving problems of development. Decline, on the other hand, draws attention to the growing gap between those with access to basic social services, such as schooling, and those who do not. Based on multiple periods of fieldwork in a community on Mount Kilimanjaro during the 1990s, Frances Vavrus looks at how the high cost of education is implicated in the construction of maisha magumu, a local concept describing the current conditions of difficult life. The author also discusses the recurrent discursive theme of education as panacea, a concept she uses to describe the conventional wisdom—one might even say wishful thinking—that schooling for women can transform the political and economic relations that impede development. Schooling, of course, does effect development through multiple channels, but it alone cannot alter the political economy of postcolonial countries experiencing the pressures of globalization. Desire and Decline concludes with case studies of local development initiatives that leave readers with a clear sense of the complexity of schooling not only in Tanzania but also at the national and global levels of policy making where the responsibility for widespread equitable development ultimately lies.

"Adjusting Inequality: Education and Structural Adjustment Policies in Tanzania" (2005, Harvard Educational Review 75(2): 174-201)

Abstract

This article presents an ethnographic study of structural adjustment in northern Tanzania that examines how policies developed by international and national institutions can affect local opportunities for education, employment, and health. It relies upon multiple methods of data collection and analysis, including document analysis, interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, and observations conducted during five periods of research from 1996 – 2003. These methods are employed to build the argument that there are both material and cultural effects of structural adjustment policies at the local level as seen in increased class stratification and in heightened feelings of relative deprivation among those who are benefiting the least from these policy changes. The article begins by reviewing the existent literature on structural adjustment policies in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Tanzania in particular. The focus then shifts from international policy to local practice, where three themes are explored in detail: (1) inequality of opportunities for secondary education; (2) limited opportunities for formal employment; and (3) increased risk of HIV infection among young women. The article concludes by considering the implications of this ethnographic study for qualitative policy research and for comparative education.

"The Promise and Peril of Education: The Teaching of In/tolerance in an Era of Globalization" (2005, Globalisation, Societies, and Education 3(2): 183-202; with Audrey Bryan)

Abstract

This article highlights the tension between two perspectives on education: education as a force in cultivating intolerance, and education as a panacea for intolerance. While not negating the potential for education to remedy social ills, we consider the extent to which education can produce change in the opposite direction (Bush & Saltarelli, 2000). In other words, if education can instill values, attitudes, and behaviors consistent with tolerance and respect for difference, it also has the potential to cultivate values consistent with a culture of intolerance and hatred (ibid). In the following pages, we present a context for our discussion of in/tolerance by providing an overview of the double-edged, or janus-faced, qualities that both education and globalisation possess. We then draw on social-psychological, anthropological, and sociological literatures in bringing together three theoretical constructs— moral exclusion, (Staub, 1989) the genocidal continuum (Scheper-Hughes, 1997; 2001; 2002), and symbolic violence (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) in examining how intolerance is created and reproduced within educational settings. Following this overview, we present three vignettes to exemplify the teaching of intolerance in different historical and geo-political contexts, namely, Nazi Germany, Rwanda, and Israel. Finally, we conclude with recommendations that pay particular attention to the kind of education that that teaching of tolerance necessitates.

“The ‘Acquired Income Deficiency Syndrome’: School Fees and Sexual Risk in Northern Tanzania” (2003, COMPARE 33(2): 235-250)

Abstract

This article examines the impact of structural adjustment policies on young women’s educational opportunities and reproductive health in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. Despite recent improvements in Tanzania’s macro-economic performance, there is a widespread sense of economic decline at the local level that compounds the conditions of sexual risk among young women who want to pursue post-secondary schooling. The article begins with a discussion of the economic, education, and reproductive health conditions in mainland Tanzania in general and in Kilimanjaro in particular. It then describes the questionnaire and essay task used in the study, and the major findings from the analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data. The remainder of article discusses the significance of this study in light of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the current debt relief programmes in the country.

“Making Distinctions: Privatisation and the (Un)educated Girl on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania” (2002, International Journal of Educational Development 22(5): 527-547)

Abstract

This article looks at the effects of privatisation policies on girls' education in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. It begins by describing changes in economic and education policies in Tanzania since independence in 1961. It presents the results of a study about parental wealth and education and the findings from an essay task completed by girls at a secondary school in the region. The article also provides life-history sketches of several girls who have not attended secondary school and a discussion of the social and economic factors that mark the distinction between "educated" and "uneducated" girls in Tanzania today. These different sources of information show how cultural notions about gender and economic hardship in Kilimanjaro work together in making the attainment of a secondary school education an untenable goal for girls from poor households.

“Postcoloniality and English: Exploring Language Policy and the Politics of Development in Tanzania” (2002, TESOL Quarterly 36(3): 373-397)

Abstract

This article presents a case study of educational language policy in postcolonial Tanzania. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected between 1996 and 2001 on Mount Kilimanjaro, the author discusses her longitudinal study of secondary school students’ lives after graduation that sheds light on the relationship between language and development. The profound sense of economic hardship among these graduates is tempered by their optimism that their knowledge of English will eventually help them find employment or opportunities for further education. The author argues that current economic conditions in the country play an important role in shaping secondary school graduates’ identity as educated persons who know English and who can find ways to cope under these challenging circumstances. The term postcoloniality is used throughout the article to emphasize the economic domain of everyday life in present-day Tanzania, but the author also examines the cultural dimensions of students’ support for English to show how the materialist and non-materialist aspects of language policy are interconnected. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this study for ESL practitioners and for applied linguistics research in the areas of bilingualism, world Englishes, and language policy in postcolonial countries.

“Uncoupling the Articulation between Girls’ Education and Tradition in Tanzania” (2002, Gender and Education 14(4): 367-389)

Abstract

This article explores theoretical and historical problems associated with representations of gender and race in the Third World. Using a feminist cultural studies approach, the author examines representations associated with the concept of African tradition that have shaped colonial and post-colonial education policy for girls in Tanzania. Archival materials from missionary, colonial, and African sources reveal the multiple and often conflicting views of tradition conveyed through programs intended to increase African girls’ participation in school. The uses of tradition in colonial policy making are compared with its meanings in contemporary educational programs for girls in an attempt to further feminist scholarship and action around the issue of girls’ education.

“Girls’ Education and Fertility Transitions: An Analysis of Recent Trends in Tanzania and Uganda” (2003, Economic Development and Cultural Change 51(4): 945-975; with Ulla Larsen )

Abstract

The fertility and education trends in Tanzania and Uganda have diverged sharply from the 1960s to the 1990s. This study examines the reasons for the significant drop in fertility in Tanzania and the very modest decline in Uganda even though the gross enrollment ratio for girls is higher in Uganda than in Tanzania. In the late 1960s, the total fertility rate (TFR) was between 6.6 and 7.1 in both countries, but by the mid-1990s the TFR had fallen to 5.8 in Tanzania and remained almost unchanged in Uganda. We use data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys to compare the current fertility patterns and the female education trends in the two countries. We find that there is higher fertility at lower ages in Uganda and that the timing of childbirth differs significantly between these countries. Moreover, there are different education enrollment patterns for girls in Uganda and Tanzania that may be affecting the current fertility trends. We also consider the international context in East Africa that may explain the fertility transitions underway in Tanzania and in neighboring Kenya.

“A Shadow of the Real Thing": Furrow Societies, Water User Associations, and Democratic Practices on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (2003, Journal of African American History 88(4): 393-412 )

Abstract

This article draws upon archival research into the history of furrow societies, a review of Tanzanian and World Bank water policies, and interviews with farmers in four villages in the Moshi Rural District of the Kilimanjaro Region, where I have been working intermittently since 1993. I argue that the bylaws, elections, and open membership of water user associations do not necessarily create democratic organizations; instead, one must look beyond the superficial structure of civil society organizations and examine the historical context in which they originated, the political purposes to which they have been put, and the reasons they are supported and opposed by different groups of local actors. I begin by tracing the history of furrows and furrow societies among the Chagga, the major ethnic group in Kilimanjaro. I then explore changes in Tanzanian water policies as they reflect broader shifts in the government’s development programs during the two major post-independence periods: first, the socialist era of Julius Nyerere (roughly 1967-1985), and second, the neoliberal period initiated under Ali Hassan Mwinyi and greatly expanded by the current president, Benjamin Mkapa (1986-present). The section that follows considers similarities between World Bank recommendations for the water sector and Tanzanian water policies during this latter period, with the final part of the article examining local reactions to proposed changes in water governance through fieldwork conducted in 2001 in the community of Old Moshi in the Moshi Rural District. I conclude by arguing that those holding radical or establishment views of civil society ought to exercise caution before embracing organizations that appear democratic simply because they encourage ‘community participation.’ As this study reveals, community members may be quite suspicious of certain democratic associational forms because they believe these organizations are being used by the state to garner local support for structural adjustment. Furthermore, people’s hopes of revitalizing furrow societies highlight the enduring cultural significance of water and of associations promoting harmonious socioeconomic development on the mountain.

“Introduction: Women and Development: Rethinking Policy and Reconceptualizing Practice” (2003, Women’s Studies Quarterly; with Lisa Ann Richey)

Synopsis

This special issue of Women’s Studies Quarterly, Women and Development: Rethinking Policy and Reconceptualizing Practice, provides a forum in which to discuss current perspectives on Women in Development and Gender and Development in light of contemporary geopolitical relations. It also creates a space in which to consider the growing literature on ‘post-development’ and its articulation with feminist theory. This issue reflects the outcome of an ambitious question posed by the co-editors to hundreds of potential contributors around the world-- “What is development?” The selected articles, essays, teaching materials, poetry, and book reviews provide insightful responses to this central query. Moreover, they illuminate commonalities and differences in thinking about women and development in two important theoretical areas: (1) the problematization of development as an organizing concept in the social sciences and in the daily lives of women and men; and (2) the analysis of discourses and practices in the contemporary Third World to understand what development actually ‘does’ on the ground. The goal of this special issue is to reframe debates about development policy and practice using the tools provided by feminist theory in its many different forms.