Capitalism in a Socialist Environment: The Rural Marketplace in Tanzania

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Periodical article

Title:	Capitalism in a Socialist Environment: The Rural Marketplace in Tanzania
Author:	McKim, Wayne
Year:	1981
Periodical:	African Urban Studies
Volume:	10
Period:	Spring
Pages:	59-71
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Tanzania
Subjects:	marketplaces traders Economics and Trade
Abstract:	The government of Tanzania is striving to create a socialist economy. The steps toward this goal, particularly since the Arusha Declaration of 1967, have changed the role of the rural marketplaces in Tanzania. The present paper focuses on the functions performed in the rural marketplaces and the predicament in which the traders find themselves as entrepreneurs seeking to provide a service and make a prof it in a socialist environment. Following as introduction to Tanzania's socialist policy and its implications for settlement patterns and economic exchange in the rural areas, Rufiji District and its marketplace activity are used to illustrate trader functions and problems in a rural Tanzanian setting. The unique role that the rural marketplace fulfills in the economic framework of Tanzania is discussed. Finally, the prognosis for the survival/expansion of these marketplaces is explored. Fig., notes, ref. tab.