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    Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of East African Studies on 06/09/2018, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2018.1518366

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‘National resources’?: The fragmented citizenship of gas extraction in Tanzania

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‘National resources’? The fragmented citizenship of gas extraction in Tanzania. / Ahearne, Robert ; Childs, John Robert.
In: Journal of Eastern African Studies, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2018, p. 696-715.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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Ahearne R, Childs JR. ‘National resources’? The fragmented citizenship of gas extraction in Tanzania. Journal of Eastern African Studies. 2018;12(4):696-715. Epub 2018 Sept 6. doi: 10.1080/17531055.2018.1518366

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Ahearne, Robert ; Childs, John Robert. / ‘National resources’? The fragmented citizenship of gas extraction in Tanzania. In: Journal of Eastern African Studies. 2018 ; Vol. 12, No. 4. pp. 696-715.

Bibtex

@article{dc1e463742f349d4a16fabb213c419c4,
title = "{\textquoteleft}National resources{\textquoteright}?: The fragmented citizenship of gas extraction in Tanzania",
abstract = "Recent discoveries of oil and natural gas across East Africa have provoked a wave of political optimism fuelled by imaginaries of future development. Tanzania is a paragon of this trend; its government having asserted its potential to become a globally significant natural gas producer within a decade. Yet, this rhetorical promise has been countered by a series of violent confrontations that have taken place between state forces and residents of southern Tanzania. Although these struggles are about various articulations of resource sovereignty, this paper argues that they should be located less in questions of resource control, than in a historical marginalization of the south, or what has been called a {\textquoteleft}hidden agenda{\textquoteright}, that privileges urban centres to the north. Drawing on original qualitative data generated over three years in Mtwara and Lindi regions, it shows how gas discoveries reveal the fault lines in the construction of an inclusive {\textquoteleft}Tanzanian{\textquoteright} citizenship. Protesters counter-narrate their sense of citizenship with insurgent strategies ranging from strike action to calls for secession. In short, natural gas discoveries actually extend the fragmentation of an already {\textquoteleft}differentiated citizenship{\textquoteright}. Studies of resource conflict and sovereignty, we conclude, should pay more attention to the contested nature of citizenship.",
keywords = "Tanzania, Mtwara, citizenship, gas, differentiated citizenship",
author = "Robert Ahearne and Childs, {John Robert}",
note = "This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of East African Studies on 06/09/2018, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2018.1518366",
year = "2018",
doi = "10.1080/17531055.2018.1518366",
language = "English",
volume = "12",
pages = "696--715",
journal = "Journal of Eastern African Studies",
issn = "1753-1063",
publisher = "Taylor & Francis",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘National resources’?

T2 - The fragmented citizenship of gas extraction in Tanzania

AU - Ahearne, Robert

AU - Childs, John Robert

N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of East African Studies on 06/09/2018, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2018.1518366

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Recent discoveries of oil and natural gas across East Africa have provoked a wave of political optimism fuelled by imaginaries of future development. Tanzania is a paragon of this trend; its government having asserted its potential to become a globally significant natural gas producer within a decade. Yet, this rhetorical promise has been countered by a series of violent confrontations that have taken place between state forces and residents of southern Tanzania. Although these struggles are about various articulations of resource sovereignty, this paper argues that they should be located less in questions of resource control, than in a historical marginalization of the south, or what has been called a ‘hidden agenda’, that privileges urban centres to the north. Drawing on original qualitative data generated over three years in Mtwara and Lindi regions, it shows how gas discoveries reveal the fault lines in the construction of an inclusive ‘Tanzanian’ citizenship. Protesters counter-narrate their sense of citizenship with insurgent strategies ranging from strike action to calls for secession. In short, natural gas discoveries actually extend the fragmentation of an already ‘differentiated citizenship’. Studies of resource conflict and sovereignty, we conclude, should pay more attention to the contested nature of citizenship.

AB - Recent discoveries of oil and natural gas across East Africa have provoked a wave of political optimism fuelled by imaginaries of future development. Tanzania is a paragon of this trend; its government having asserted its potential to become a globally significant natural gas producer within a decade. Yet, this rhetorical promise has been countered by a series of violent confrontations that have taken place between state forces and residents of southern Tanzania. Although these struggles are about various articulations of resource sovereignty, this paper argues that they should be located less in questions of resource control, than in a historical marginalization of the south, or what has been called a ‘hidden agenda’, that privileges urban centres to the north. Drawing on original qualitative data generated over three years in Mtwara and Lindi regions, it shows how gas discoveries reveal the fault lines in the construction of an inclusive ‘Tanzanian’ citizenship. Protesters counter-narrate their sense of citizenship with insurgent strategies ranging from strike action to calls for secession. In short, natural gas discoveries actually extend the fragmentation of an already ‘differentiated citizenship’. Studies of resource conflict and sovereignty, we conclude, should pay more attention to the contested nature of citizenship.

KW - Tanzania

KW - Mtwara

KW - citizenship

KW - gas

KW - differentiated citizenship

U2 - 10.1080/17531055.2018.1518366

DO - 10.1080/17531055.2018.1518366

M3 - Journal article

VL - 12

SP - 696

EP - 715

JO - Journal of Eastern African Studies

JF - Journal of Eastern African Studies

SN - 1753-1063

IS - 4

ER -