The shifting of workers from agriculture to other more productive sectors is defined in academic circles as structural transformation. Tanzania’s experience with structural transformation looks...Show moreThe shifting of workers from agriculture to other more productive sectors is defined in academic circles as structural transformation. Tanzania’s experience with structural transformation looks different. Instead of manufacturing, labour in Tanzania appears to move from agriculture to the services sector. This structural shift also differs from the development experience in other regions like the United States, Europe, and East Asia. Such a pattern drives us to rethink whether and how the development service sectors can function as an alternative path to achieve sustainable economic growth in Tanzania without a robust manufacturing sector. This research thesis adopts a mixed method between quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the role of manufacturing, service and servicification activities in determining the pattern of structural transformation in Tanzania from 1961 to 2021. Two disciplinary approaches are combined. First, the historical description is adopted to present Tanzania’s economic development trajectory. Secondly, in this trajectory, methods and materials are adapted from economics, to show with macroeconomic data how the country’s national economy has evolved over time. Focus is placed on policies that were implemented as well as the turning points where shifts become obvious in national economic processes. This thesis found that the service sector could enhance Tanzania’s economic growth and development if linked to industrial activities, specifically manufacturing. In general, the structural transformation from agriculture to the industrial sector in Tanzania still generated the highest growth and gains in worker productivity, except after the Arusha Declaration between 1967 and 1985. It is difficult for late industrialised countries, such as Tanzania, which lacks a strong manufacturing core, to pursue industrialisation and compete with what East Asian countries have achieved. However, the servicification of manufacturing provides an opportunity to bypass the manufacturing stage and keep up with the recent trend of global industrialisation.Show less
The world has witnessed many years of advocacy and attempts to improve the lives of menstruating women. This was done by trying to address access to sanitary products and facilities, as well as a...Show moreThe world has witnessed many years of advocacy and attempts to improve the lives of menstruating women. This was done by trying to address access to sanitary products and facilities, as well as a non-material threat – the menstrual stigma. Kenya is no exception to this, and in fact, it has been considered at the forefront of menstrual awareness campaigns in the Global South with its ‘free pads for schoolgirls’ policy and menstrual health management agenda. Yet in the context of all that, 2019 was shaken by a girl committing suicide after feeling the shame of leaking in school, and 2023 began with a “scandal” of a Kenyan senator who was sent home for wearing blood-stained pants. These medialized events and many others happening in the private lives of ordinary people highlight that the menstrual stigma is still very present and powerful. For this reason, this research attempted to find out how women in Kenya talk about menstruation in a private, family context in ways that influence the cultural knowledge and understanding of young women, and how these young women engage with this information to reinforce or change perceptions. It was found that there is still considerable silence and stigma surrounding the transmission of period-related knowledge, which reproduces menstrual stigma among young women. Nonetheless, the younger generation is influenced by their own experience, current campaigns, and social media to become more open and approachable parents in the future.Show less
This work starts with two interrogatives, asking whether Zimbabwean immigrants in Botswana contribute to the economy, and to what extent they are integrated in the country. To understand these...Show moreThis work starts with two interrogatives, asking whether Zimbabwean immigrants in Botswana contribute to the economy, and to what extent they are integrated in the country. To understand these issues, a historical framework is outlined to understand the Zimbabwean migratory flows to Botswana. Therefore, an analysis of the economic movements created by Zimbabwean immigrants in Botswana, both documented and undocumented ones, is conducted on the basis of quantitive and qualitative data collected during fieldwork research in Gaborone at the beginning of 2023. Overall, this work shows that Zimbabwean immigrants generate enormous amounts of money yearly in Botswana. On the other hand, it cannot be easily said that Zimbabweans are integrated into the country. While they are now a normalized presence in it and feel so accordingly, they do not enjoy structural integration.Show less
The arts have proven to be a transformative force for social change in the Senegalese context (Dimé, 2022; Gueye, 2013). This interdisciplinary study deploys an artistic lens to analyse the ...Show moreThe arts have proven to be a transformative force for social change in the Senegalese context (Dimé, 2022; Gueye, 2013). This interdisciplinary study deploys an artistic lens to analyse the “migration” situation, as artists are an emerging actor in the Senegalese “migration” discourse. It adopts a more reflective stance in the study of “migration”-related art by exploring what knowledge Senegalese artists and artistic practices produce about “migration”. Through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, this research includes a series of reflections on artistic practices and the stories voiced by artists. The analysis follows the storyline of the documentary Bataaxal and is divided into four parts. The first focuses on the feeling that is produced by the aesthetic elements of art and how this is relates to politics, by drawing on the work of Jacques Rancière (2003). The second subsequently focuses on the narrator’s memories, emotions, words, and phrases and how these are involved in the production of meaning. The third section then turns to a comparison between the broader thematic foci that are covered by the artists and their works. Conversely, the fourth section locates the role of place and time in the production of artistic practices. How these findings relate to existing academic work is then analysed in the discussion. Finally, the study concludes by reaffirming that artists are deeply rooted within “migration” discourses; however, the artists and their knowledge are intertwined with their milieu, as much as the created art is related to the construction of the phenomenon of “migration”. As a result, the transformative capacity of art is questionable, as the art may inadvertently reproduce dominant and problematic narratives that have been constructed by government policies and international organisations to frame people on the move as a problem.Show less
