The Emergence of the Village and the Transformation of Traditional Institutions: A Case Study from Northern Tanzania

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Citation

McCabe, J. Terrence; Leslie, Paul W.; & Davis, Alicia (2020). The Emergence of the Village and the Transformation of Traditional Institutions: A Case Study from Northern Tanzania. Human Organization, 79(2), 150-160. PMCID: PMC7861511

Abstract

In this paper, we examine how the 2008-2009 drought in northern Tanzania contributed to and catalyzed the transformation of governance concerning the management of natural resources from traditional informal institutions among the Maasai to formal village-based institutions. Our central argument is that village governance in northern Tanzania represents a new, formal institution that is supplementing and in some important ways obviating traditional, informal institutions. Further, this replacement is central to what appears to be a transformation of the social-ecological system embracing the rangelands and pastoral/agropastoral people in northern Tanzania. In this paper, we document the basis for our claims concerning the institutional shift and discuss its implications for livelihoods and social relationships.

URL

https://doi.org/10.17730/1938-3525.79.2.150

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2020

Journal Title

Human Organization

Author(s)

McCabe, J. Terrence
Leslie, Paul W.
Davis, Alicia

Article Type

Regular

PMCID

PMC7861511

Continent/Country

Tanzania

ORCiD

Leslie - 0000-0001-9856-4602