Tanzanian Christianity and socio-political thought in the Nyerere years: a comparative study of the Chagga of Kilimanjaro and the Haya of Kagera, 1954-1985

Abstract

This thesis analyses the ways in which Christianity interacted with socio-political thought in Tanzania between the late colonial period and the end of Julius Nyerere’s presidency. It focuses primarily on the Chagga people of the Kilimanjaro Region and the Haya people of the Kagera Region, tracing constantly developing ideas concerning tradition, culture, ethnicity, nationalism, development, and African Socialism in Catholic and Lutheran communities. In these areas, religion was an important part of daily life, and there was for many Chagga and Haya people a strong link between Christianity, education, social philosophy, and commerce.

The thesis builds on a growing body of literature in two strands of African history, namely the history of African Christianity and African intellectual history. At the same time, it aims to address the relatively understudied topic of religion within the better-studied history of Tanzanian social and political thought in the period between 1954 and 1985, when Julius Nyerere led the independence movement and then served as the country’s first president. During this time, most of the socio-political foundations of the modern Tanzanian state were laid; a strong national identity emerged, and a socialist policy known as Ujamaa (Swahili for ‘familyhood’) was implemented whilst, at the same time, an adherence to religious and ethnic identities was discouraged, and opposition to the ruling party and its philosophies was repressed.

Previous analyses of religion’s place in Nyerere’s Tanzania have focused primarily on Church-State relations and the history of religious institutions, and so this thesis supplements the existing scholarship by focusing on socio-political thought amongst Chagga and Haya Christians. It does this by placing a particular emphasis on the value of oral testimonies and memory; whilst it utilises a range of archival sources, it also incorporates information obtained in interviews with Chagga and Haya Catholics and Lutherans, allowing for a discussion of people’s personal politico-religious philosophies during a period of great change.