| The subject of this dissertation is Kunduchi and Kibamba Divisions, located in northwestern Kinondoni District, representing the northern third of the district containing the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and one of its major suburbs. This dissertation is an archaeology of sociocultural identity in Kinondoni---a history of the production of social identities in the context of the political economy of the region, and the manner in which they have crystallized into various and diverse configurations, yet follow general and recognizable patterns. Precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial discourse has generated various forms of ahistorical metanarratives about historic groups that have come to settle in the region. According to these metanarratives, some residents aspire to a more global and cosmopolitan ecumen, while others claim for themselves---or have imposed upon them by more powerful groups---a special status as 'indigenous' peoples of the region. The aim of this dissertation is not just to identify and label, but to recover the continual reproduction of opposed groups within the shifting regional landscape over time.;The suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania are suited to this examination because they represent a cultural borderland, neither entirely urban nor rural, and with a range of individuals and groups of various origins, social statuses and economic aspirations. Tanzania has a rich and well documented precolonial, colonial and postcolonial history, useful in exploring the shifting configurations of identities over the long duree. Individuals consequently are able to cobble together a sense of community---not necessarily a bounded, egalitarian or conflict-free one, but one recognized, shared and valued by its members. |
