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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Middle class construction: domestic architecture, aesthetics and anxieties in Tanzania
Author:Mercer, ClaireISNI
Year:2014
Periodical:Journal of Modern African Studies (ISSN 0022-278X)
Volume:52
Issue:2
Pages:227-250
Language:English
Geographic term:Tanzania
Subjects:urban housing
architecture
aesthetics
social classes
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/43302911
Abstract:This article examines the new styles of houses under construction in contemporary Tanzania and suggests that they can be understood as the material manifestation of middle class growth. Through an examination of the architecture, interior decor and compound space in a sample of these new houses in urban Dar es Salaam and rural Kilimanjaro, the paper identifies four domestic aesthetics: the respectable house, the locally aspirant house, the globally aspirant house and the minimalist house, each of which map on to ideas about 'ujamaa', liberalization and the consumption of global consumer goods in distinct ways. The author argues that these different domestic aesthetics demonstrate intra-class differences, and in particular the emergence of a new middle class. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]
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