The Politics of Economic Diversification: Reconceptualizing the Rural Informal Sector in South‐east Tanzania

1 July 1996

journal article
Published by Wiley in Development and Change

Vol. 27 (3) , 557-578
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1996.tb00603.x

Abstract

This study examines how economic diversification is changing a Tanzanian village under economic liberalization. More specifically, it asks how different wealth groups are able to incorporate income‐generating activities into their livelihood strategies. The conclusion is that while diversification (as a division of labour) is advanced at the village level, it appears that different activities enhance the division of the village into segregated cultural spheres and increase economic differentiation. At village level the diversity of income‐generating activities reduces any single line of economic dependency either on the state or on market actors.

Keywords

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