The African Renaissance and Struggles for the Third Phase of Nation-Building in Africa: The Experience of Tanzania

Abstract

Since independence most countries in Africa have experienced two phases of nation-building. These include the nationalist phase and the neo-liberal phase. The third phase entails struggling for neo-nationalism and democratic developmental societies. The movement of struggles for a neo-nationalist approach, entailing independent democratic socio-economic development, has been viewed by some African historians and other scholars as an African Renaissance. Historically, renaissance is conceptualized as a movement and struggle for changing political, socio-economic and cultural system of a society. The struggle for change in Tanzania, which started during the first two phases and continues through the current third phase, provides a typical example of African renaissance in the context of nation building.