Browsing by Author "Mihanjo, Eginald Pius Alex Nongelo"

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    Capital, social formation and labour migration: a case study of the Wampoto in Mbinga district 1900-1960
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1989) Mihanjo, Eginald Pius Alex Nongelo
    The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the capitalist system and a specific social formation in the labour migration process during the colonial period in Tanganyika. It examines why and how the integration of the Wampoto into the capitalist systems brought about dislocation and disintegration of the Wampoto social formation. The weaknesses within the social formation, particularly the inability of the domestic economy to meet the reproduction needs of the society during the colonial period, and its failure to fully utilize the labour, partly contributed to this disintegration.As a results, it was economically necessary for the junior males among the Wampoto to become migrant laborers, as they were the disadvantaged, non-propertied members, unable to meet their reproduction needs. The study establishes that the political economy of colonialism is not a question of the articulation of modes of production; nor it simply a matter of a “colonial mode of production”. Rather, it is a case of the development of capitalism. It demonstrates that the colonial period initiated a process of transition to capitalism, hence the necessity of analyzing transformations towards the capitalist system during the colonial period in Tanganyika. However, in examining the incorporation and transformation of the pre-capitalist societies, the study shows that there were variations between societies. It is thus significant to examine a specific social formation. The study establishes that the Wampoto social formation was organized in collective clan based units. The economy was characterized by production for use, with the main activities being fishing and agriculture. These structures were undermined by the development of capitalism during the colonial period, giving rise to individualistic tendencies in the form of family based economic units, increasingly responding to cash needs in their productive endeavors. The rise of migrant labour is to be seen in this context.
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    Transition to capitalism and reproduction: the demographic history of lake Nyasa region 1850s-1980s.
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1999) Mihanjo, Eginald Pius Alex Nongelo
    African countries are passing through a period of economic crisis and reforms. While the economy is in crisis, population has been increasing in most of the states, thus reducing further incomes of the people. Given this imbalance between economic and population growth, a number of African states have adopted population policies whose aim is to limit population growth as a way to economic growth. Tanzania is one of the states that has developed a population policy whose intention is to create a balance between income and population growth. This study examines this position and shows that it is historical and mechanical. It argues that population dynamics are historically determined by the dominant mode of production. Africa's economic and population dynamics at current conjuncture are historically related to the International capitalist system which is the dominant mode of production. Using Lake Nyasa region as a case study, and historical sources, such as: parish registers, hospital registers, oral and archival sources, the study shows how the capitalist integration of the area from mid nineteenth century to 1980s, led to the disintegration of the domestic mode of production, i.e. clan fishing. This integration into the world system through slave trade transformed both social and biological reproduction. More importantly, it reduced population in the area and affected generational stability. By mid 1920's colonialism had succeeded in restoring generation stability with the result that by mid 1940's and 1950's the population had doubled. Both the emerging capitalist exchange economy and cultural intervention, such as Christianity, had by the 1940's not only eroded pre-capitalist controls but also activated increase in population. Evidently population dynamics are directly linked to the socio-economic and political process characteristics of the dominant of the mode of production. Capitalist as the dominant mode of production under the current epoch has shaped production, death, disease, birth, food and migration patterns in Lake Nyasa. In the final analysis capitalist relations are, in fact the main rational explanation for the demographic features currently found in Lake Nyasa area.