Africa's Freedom Railway: How a Chinese Development Project Changed Lives and Livelihoods in Tanzania
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.40 (541 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0253223229 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 216 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-11-01 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority), or Freedom Railway, from Dar es Salaam on the Tanzanian coast to the Copperbelt region of Zambia, was instrumental in fostering one of the most sweeping development transitions in postcolonial Africa. The book follows the railroad from design and construction to its daily use as a vital means for moving villagers and goods. Rebuffed by Western aid agencies, newly independent Tanzania and Zambia accepted help from China to construct what would become one of Africa's most vital transportation corridors. It tells a story of how transnational interests contributed to environmental change, population movements, and the rise of local and regional enterprise.. Built during the height of the Cold War, the railway was intended to redirect the mineral wealth of the interior away from routes through South Africa and Rhodesia
Drawing on 20 years of research in Tanzania, Monson (history, Carleton College) details TAZARA's planning, construction, and economic impact, along with changing settlement patterns, land use, and vegetation cover. This book is a model of transport historical geography. "The depth of material and analysis makes this essential for development studies and especially Chinese-African relations as the People's Republic expands involvement in the continent." Choice"Africa’s Freedom Railway is an insightful and well-informed book that bears testament to the experience of those Tanzanians and Chinese who worked on TAZARA railway as well as those whose lives have benefitted from its presence. Simil
"College-level collections strong in African culture and history need this" according to Midwest Book Review. In the 1970s a team of Chinese railway workers and their Tanzanian counterparts faced a team of American-led road workers advancing across the same countryside - in direct competition with the Chinese railway project. A standoff ensued between the two development projects - and first-hand experiences of engineers and laborers contribute to a survey of the railroad's design, construction, and effects on the local social and economic atmosphere of one of the poorest count
She is editor of Women as Food Producers in Developing Countries.. Jamie Monson is Professor of History at Macalester College