African Underclass: Urbanisation, Crime & Colonial Order in Dar Es Salaam (2005)
By Andrew Burton

James Currey Publishers

UK£16.95

Examines the social, political and administrative repercussions of rapid urban growth in Dar es Salaam, tracing the origins of the response to urbanisation in post-colonial Tanzania. The book says British policy attempted to marginalise the growing numbers of Africans who did not fit colonial criteria for town residence. An underclass emerged whose rights to urban citizenship were eroded by a policy response that criminalised their economic activities and their very presence in the town.