African Underclass: Urbanisation, Crime, and Colonial Order in Dar es Salaam

African Underclass examines the social, political, and administrative repercussions of rapid urbanization in colonial Dar es Salaam, and the evolution of official policy that viewed urbanization as inextricably linked with social disorder. This policy marginalized numbers of young Africans entering the town—and thus, paradoxically, the policy itself subverted the colonial order. Well researched and sharply written—one of the best and most stimulating accounts of urbanization in Eastern Africa to have been produced in recent years. —John McCracken, emeritus professor of history, University of StirlingAndrew Burton is assistant director of the British Institute in Eastern Africa.