Discussions in “Cheche” magazine and modernisation in Tanzania (1967–1970)

Today, Africanists are turning their attention to the history of decolonization once again. Intellectual historians and those who study the history of concepts are no exception. The author of this article proposes to consider the discussion on the pages of the radical student magazine Cheche and the birth of USARF (University Student African Revolutionary Front) as an important phenomenon of the intersection of “big” discourses with local vernacular ideas at the very dawn of Tanzania’s political independence (1967–1970). The two main concepts, on the intersection of which, the analyzed discussion arose, are development and modernization and the role of young intellectuals in achieving them. Tracing how these concepts developed during the colonial period, the author draws attention to how their understanding changed and developed with independence. The author then turns to the history of the University of Dar es Salaam and the history of the USARF socialist circle, hypothesizing how local debates may have influenced the public sphere and local notions of development and modernization (maendeleo). How did the vernacular ideas influence the use of these concepts in the discussions, that happened between the members of the ogranizations. And in turn how did they influence the ideas by introducing a new concept of “underdevelopment” (maendeleo duni), which was heavily influenced by works of Walter Rodney?