The Representation of Structural Violence in Makuadi wa Soko Huria (The Free Market Pimps)

Abstract

This paper examines Chachage Seithy Chachage’s novel titled Makuadi wa Soko Huria (2002), henceforth The Free Market Pimps. The paper draws on an analytical lens of violence developed by John Galtung and on a postcolonial approach in order to carry out a textual analysis of the novel. It argues that globalisation is a form of indirect violence embedded within a socio-political and economic system, and can potentially cause conflicts in postcolonial societies. Using a historical discourse, the author singles out the Rufiji Delta to dissect the implications of globalisation in terms of privatisation and foreign direct investment for the people of Rufiji and Ruhimba in particular and for Tanzanians in general. It is against this historical background that the paper explores the elusive concept of globalisation and the dilemma Tanzania is caught up in, that is, between the ‘Ujamaa’ (socialism) ideology which the country pursued at the onset of independence on the one hand, and neo-colonialism and neo-liberalism on the other.