Environmental mainstreaming and post-sovereign governance in Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania's experiences of development aid partnerships and environmental mainstreaming have been widely praised in recent years, yet the country continues to suffer from considerable problems of poverty, food insecurity and ecological degradation. As such it constitutes an interesting case study through which to examine hypotheses on global environmental governance. Looking specifically at claims that environmental governance is increasingly “post-sovereign”, this article assesses the degree to which environmental management in Tanzania is becoming “non-exclusive”, “non-hierarchical”, and “post-territorial”. It argues that evidence for non-exclusivity is plentiful, given the extent of foreign donor, private sector, and civil society inclusion in governance processes. Rather than the absence of hierarchy, the article suggests the existence of multiple hierarchies produced by both the transnationalisation of environmental politics as well as the complex nature of the Tanzanian state. Finally, rather than a trend towards post-territorialisation, the research suggests that environmental governance should be seen within a longer trajectory of greater state penetration, monitoring, surveillance and intrusion into rural life. It concludes that environmental governance is significantly transforming the Tanzanian state and that this is characteristic of changes in environmental governance worldwide.