CIVICS FORM FOUR

                                                               TOPIC 1

                                          GLOBALIZATION

Definition:

Globalization is defined as the increasing process of interdependence and interconnectedness between different political, social and economic components of the world. It is the way in which the world in seen as the global village. Globalization becomes a worldwide system as integrates people across national borders, making the world operate as a village and therefore enabling free movement of goods, capital and information.

The Concept and Aspects of Globalization

Globalization is a result of man's progressive nature of change. It can be traced far back from the 16th C - the period when European traders and sailors interfiled overseas trade through mercantilism. From the 16th C on-wards, the shape of global migration was transformed by the Europeans and Americans. The first great wave of the early modern migrations involved forced movements of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade which shifted about 9-12 million people. By the mid-19th century, this trade linked West Africa with the external world through enslaving Africans.

The integration became more pronounced during the Second World War. The Europeans economies in the 1950's and 1960's drove a renewed epoch of global migration that that turned Europeans interest to overseas nations where they were thought to be a cheap source of wealth, despite the oil shocks of 1970's and the closure of many Europeans peripheries.

Concept and Aspects of Globalization

Explain the concept and aspects of globalization

During the1970's, the wave of migration was enormous. Labour added the new pattern of regional migration within Africa, Latin America and East Asia. However, from the 1990's, migration in the global society has been intense, due to the advancement of science and technology, crisis'sand disintegration in the developing world. The interconnectedness has led to the development of the communication technology and space explorations.

                        Figure; Dar es salaam Tz

DRIVING FORCES OF GLOBALIZATION

·         Advances in Science and Technology: The development of science and technology has contributed greatly to the development of global interconnectedness, interactivity and the integration of the world societies into single global village. Through science and technology, machines which simplify human activities like communication have been developed. The development of science and technology marked the initial stage of integration of people from far distances. Education process marked the point of no return towards the integration of different people from different nations and cultures in the world. From the 20th C, revolutionized education marked the intensive integration of people in universities, colleges and international conferences. Through interaction and integration, most people have adopted culture from other people and thus the beginning of cultural liberalization.

·         Socio – political liberalization: Liberalization was derived from the liberal democratic principle Liberalists believed that the freedom of an individual is the main principle of life that people are supposed to have. The freedom of individual has fostered the development of globalization in the world. Social liberalization is widespread due to the advancement of information and communication technologies like television, e-mail, cellular phones and the internet.

·         Political integration of politics in the global scale has fostered the development of globalization. National governments have been ultimately responsible for maintaining the security and economic welfare of their citizens as well as the protection of human rights and security of the world. Political activities increasingly take place, from national to global level. Examples include democratization process, multiparty democracy, formation of NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSO).

ASPECTS OF GLOBALIZATION

Globalization in aspects of, economic, political and social phenomena is associated with the following major aspects:

·         The Rise of Intellectual Property: This refers to items including patents, copyrighted movies, compacts discs, advertisements and financial services.

·         Free Market Economy: Globalization has brought about the integration of an international political economy through inter-financial institution policies and international trade. Free market (Neo liberalism) has become a dominant economic ideology in the world. The price is determined by the market.

·         Information and Communication Technology: Globalization is characterized by the advancement of information and communication technology. This sector expanded drastically within the last few years, specifically the last quarter of the twentieth century. This period witnessed the global distribution of media images through computers, screens, radio, newspapers, televisions and mobile phones. Development of information and technology goes hand-in-hand with the rise of information companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Compaq and Cisco. The rise of these companies indicates the quick advancement of technology.

·         Spread of Ideas and Ideology: Spread of knowledge, ideas, information and ideologies has been an integral aspect of globalization. This may be different physical capital, technical skills and production methods, managerial skills, marketing skills and global economic policies. The concept of multiparty and green peace are examples of political ideologies that have acquired international dominance.

·         Spread of Ideas and Ideology: Spread of knowledge, ideas, information and ideologies has been an integral aspect of globalization. This may be different physical capital, technical skills and production methods, managerial skills, marketing skills and global economic policies. The concept of multiparty and green peace are examples of political ideologies that have acquired international dominance.

·         Movement of People: There has been an increase in the movement of people from one country to another. These may be tourists, migrants, refugees, business travelers and diplomats. Most migrations occur between developing countries and developed countries. There is also a flow of migrants to developed economies from developing countries, making the world more interconnected.

·         Finance: There is a global flow of money often driven by the interconnected currency market stock exchange, as well as commodity markets. The flow of money is also facilitated by international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, assisted by multilateral Banks which have branches in almost every part of the world. Thus, this flow allows for smooth money transaction all over the world.

·         The Structural Adjustment Program (SAP): 

SAP refers to the list of budgetary and policy changes required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) for developing countries to qualify and apply for a loan. This conditions typically include reducing barriers to trade and capital flows, tax increases and cuts in government expenditure. All sub – Saharan African countries south of the Sahara including those in east, central and southern Africa - excluding the Republic of South African - were obliged to adopt the policy to solve the international problems and reduce the heavy debt burden that seemed to increase rapidly between 1970s and 1980s.

Objectives of (SAP)

·         To improve the public investment programs.

·         To devalue local currency as a means of monitoring exchange rates and therefore balance the domestic currency price.

·         To reduce poverty by improving the living standards of people in lesser developed countries.

·         Reasons for Structural Adjustment Program Formation

·         To introduce tax reforms and eliminate quantitative restrictions in the trade sector.

·         To rationalize the public sector and enhance employment opportunities.

·         To introduce agricultural sector reforms, market liberalization and institutional reform.

·         To improve sectoral resource allocations, mobilize domestic resources and restore growth of the economy.

Principles of SAP

•   Parastatal privatization and reform programs: financial sector reforms, and improving public sector management through civil service reforms, all intended to consolidate and ensure effective performance in trade sales and joint ventures.
• Governments to withdraw from providing free education and agricultural incentives: Instead cost sharing to be implanted in all social services.

·         To Elimination of tariffs: reduction of taxes and promotion of the role of private operation in export trade, as well as liberation of domestic retail and whole world sale trade (in final goods and capital).

·         Lowering explicit and implicit taxes on the agricultural sector: raising real producer prices while reducing subsistence taxes on imports and liberalization of export crop marketing.

·         Removing restrictions: on collective reforms and wage setting practices in order to attain better life of people in the LDC‟s.59

               Achievements of SAP or ( Strengths ).

·         Presence in choice on commodities: They have the ability to choose what to buy and at what cost. It is different from previous situations; when people were buying only what was available in the market without choice. For example, all Tanzanians can buy sugar from Mtibwa, Kagera or Kilombero. People have a choice on the kind of commodity, the price and quality of items to buy. This is due to privatization which allows different companies to engage in business of the same kind.

·         Alleviates bureaucracy:  Before SAP establishment in Tanzania, there was bureaucracy in offices that provide public services such as banks, posts, telecommunication, transport, etc. But with SAP, bureaucratic actions in offices have ceased as a good number of companies are engaging in the same business and therefore competing for customers. This has allowed the customer to be attended effectively. With SAP, it is “customer first” practice.

·         The formation of adjustment programs and policies with the intention of economic sustainability: efficiency and growth has raised the living standards of people in their respective countries through the privatization policy.

·         Agricultural productions: exports, investments and consumption witnessed increases in strong reformed countries.

·         The invest performance improved mostly in strong reforms: while it went up slowly in non – reforming countries, in years between 1980 – 1984 and 1985 – 1987.

·         The increase in the growth rates on real consumptions in 1986 and 1987 compared to 1980 – 1984, has been three times as great in reforming countries.

·         Exchange rates grew in some of African countries: for example, Nigeria in 1980 - 1984, prices and exchange rate was 86%.

·         Politically: SAP has made many third world countries democratic. Among SAP conditions, good governance is insisted. Therefore, people have freedom of speech, decision making and accountable in their development. This has been made possible through multi-partyism process which intends to allow everyone to practice democracy by participating in decision making for the betterment of their country.

             Weakness of SAP or (Failure)

•    SAP has brought about chaos and crisis. With the introduction of multiparty democracy, many African countries are in chaos and conflict. The conflict is between the ruling and opposition party. This is evident in Zanzibar; Kenya Economic diversification is still low due to instability of economies in which the capital earned per year tends to be directed in different socio-economic issues.
• Export capital and investment capital ratio still low in developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan African countries. A, Burundi and Zimbabwe.

·         SAP has failed to implement most of its objectives and principles to the developing countries and instead it accelerated the rate of poverty in rural areas. This has come about due to the fall of the agricultural sector which acts as the back bone of most developing countries.

·         Agricultural and industrial products are still unsatisfactorily produced due to improper investment and inadequate technology.

·         SAP has destructed local industries. This is due to the border-less policy which allows regional and international companies to pour their commodities into the market. This has increased the availability of commodities produced and reduced their price, compared to local industry prices. Therefore, the low price of commodities in the market has resulted in the failure of local industries to trade effectively. They produce at high cost and sell at high cost which result in a decrease in market and makes industries fail to continue producing the commodities.

·         SAP has brought about user fee or cost sharing. This has made poor people fail to get services. For example, user fees have made people fail to get medication at hospitals. Also, it has made students fail to continue with their studies. SAP has stratified societies into “know and know not”. With SAP, people are making choices even in education. Poor parents fail to send their students to school while the rich send them to quality schools. The consequence of this is the creation of social classes of those who are knowledgeable andare obviously going to be decision makers and those who do not have knowledge and end up being poor.

           The following are possible solution to achieve the weakness of SAP

        State interventions: The state should act with regulatory framework. It should not control but where possible should intervene. The state should make the market friendly to all, i.e. buyers and sellers. Otherwise, without state interventions, the poor will remain poor and the rich became richer and richer.

 Priorities and preferences in privatization: Not all government institutions should be privatized. The government should have priorities on what to privatize and why. Otherwise, privatize everything can lead to lack of sovereignty and imbalance in market; which in turn lead to failure of poor Tanzanians fail to get basic needs. This can be dangerous for the betterment if national security and development.

 Human capital should be developed: More schools offering sound and appropriate education should be established. The curriculum should reflect SAP needs. This will make Tanzanians compete in global market.

 Effective tax collection: With SAP conditionalities the government provides investors with tax holidays. In order to make SAP to all stakeholders, no tax holiday is to be provided to any62investors. Tax holiday has made the government fail to collect revenue for development. Many investors have started making some manipulation of changing the names and ownership of the investment. Therefore, No tax holidays is to be offered unless otherwise there is a special circumstance to be offered for specific investment.

Local or internal industries should be provided with subsides: This will make the local industries to complete in the market. Also, Low Developed Countries (LDC‟s) should implement their integrations. They must produce and sell in their market rather than the current situation where every country is producing as its stake and selling in the world market at low price. Regional integration will make more market for the local products. By integration, it will be easy for LDC‟s to establish common more for the price of their products in the world market.

The Privatization Process

·         Privatization refers to the policy of transferring assets and activities of public sector to the private sectors to be owned and operated by individuals.

·         Privatization is one of the results of Structural Adjustment Programs which has been emphasized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), (World Bank (WB) and donors from abroad, particularly Western countries like British, France, USA, Denmark, and Germany. The ongoing economic crises of developing countries and dependency syndrome of these countries are some of the factors that contributed to the formation of privatization.

·         However, the policy started in 1980‟s and gained significance public notice at the global level during the same decade (1980‟s) when Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took deliberate and extra efforts on economic sectors to restructure the prevailed condition in the country.

·         Under the provisions of the World Bank, governments of developing countries began experimenting various forms of market reforms including increased privatization out of public63services. Under this situation, therefore, privatization gained wide spread interest and became an acceptable policy, to government policy makers, service providers as well as public planners.

The Objectives of Privatization

·         To broaden and share ownership through the equal provision of public services at all levels by individuals and the state.

·         To reduce the overwhelming and challenging increase of the public debt. This is done by collecting tax from the private investors and use part of the tax to service the foreign debt.

·         To create more market oriented economy where those privatized firms will participate in the stock market.

·         To improve economy, productivity and efficiency of the privatized parastatals.\

·         To secure and enhance access to foreign markets, capital and technology through attracting managerial and technological foreign investors.

Measures taken to Enhance Privatization in Tanzania

·         To expand the role of the private sector in the economy and permit the government to concentrate on social services like health, education infrastructures.

·         To encourage wider participation in ownership of private companies and management of business.

·         To improve the operational efficiency of enterprises and their contribution to the national economy.

·         To reduce the burden of parastatal enterprises to depend on the government budget.

Advantages of Privatization

·         It has increased flexibility due to the reduction of bureaucratic complexity and procedures in order to improve the national economy.

·         It has increased efficiency in provision of goods and services due to the competitive spirit in production.

·         Privatization has led to the improvement and rise of competition among the existing organizations, hence brought about better services.

·         It has met the demands beyond the current government capacity. The private sectors encourage competitions which increase the level of productivity and efficiency.

·         Privatization provides clients with more choice of options where they can be more satisfied in terms of contracts, salaries and work conditions.

Disadvantages of Privatization

Privatization increases the rate of moral erosion due to its policy of free trade: The private companies tend to import all types of goods without considering the consumers. Such goods include phonographs and other related firms or VCD/DVD which ruin the younger generation morally.

Privatization policy increases the rate of poverty to the people living in rural areas due to the decline in agricultural production: Rural people depend on agriculture for the better quality of their life.

 Privatization has increased unemployment of the indigenous people. This has been the case because most of the personnel are from outside. When any public enterprise is privatized, it is accompanied by massive redundancy of the previously local working personnel.

 It has led to the fall in agricultural sector due to the withdrawal of the government from providing the agricultural incentives:  It has increased temptation to reduce quality of services in order to reduce costs and maximize profit.

TRADE LIBERATION

Meaning and definition:

Trade liberation refers to the reduction of the tariffs and trade barriers to permit more foreign competition and foreign investment in the economy. It is a term which describes the complete or partial elimination of trade barriers such as quotas and tariffs. Trade liberalization is sometimes refers to as free trade. Free trade is the unhindered flow of goods and services between countries, and is a name given to economic policies and parties supporting increase in such trade. It is a market model in which trade in goods and services between or within countries flow unhindered by government –imposed restrictions. Restrictions to trade include taxes and tariffs, and other non-tariff barriers, such as legislation and quotas.

Free trade includes:

•  The free movement of labour between and within countries.
• The free movement of capital between and within countries.

·         Trade of goods without taxes (including tariffs) or trade barriers (e.g., quotas on imports or subsides for producers).

·         Trade in services without taxes or other trade barriers.

·         The absence of trade-distorting policies (such as taxes, subsidies, regulations or laws) that give some firms, households or factors of production an advantage over others.

·         Free access to markets.

·         Free access to market information.

·         Inability of firms to distort markets through government – imposed monopoly or oligopoly power.

DEMOCRATIZATION PROCESS

Globalization is associated with global political reforms under the Process called democratization. The democratization process is assessed by looking at the following principles.

·         Tolerance: This is the ability to bear with something unpleasant or annoying. Tanzania is a pluralist society. This means a society composed of different ethnics, racial and religious group.66In this society Africans form the majority, compared with the negligible non-African minority groups. The right of the small groups does not depend on the number of people in a group. The majority group has a duty to respect the convictions and ways of life of the minorities.

·         Citizen participation: participation is the major role of citizen in a democracy. It is both their right and duty. Citizenship participation includes standing for elections, debating issues, voting on elections, gathering for community meetings, joining parties and organization, protecting and ways of life of the minorities.

·         Equality: In a democracy all people are equal. This means people are valued equally. They have equal opportunities. No one is discriminated against. Moreover, groups are free to maintain their different cultures, personalities, languages and beliefs. When the majority deny rights to or destroy their opposition, they also destroy democracy. A democracy is enriched by diversity.

·         The rule of law: In a democracy no one is above the law, not even an elected president. This is called the rule of law. It means everyone must obey the law. If they violate it they must be held accountable or liable. Similarly, the laws must be equally, fairly and consistently enforced.

·         Sovereignty: Only a sovereign nation can practice democracy. Sovereignty means the freedom to decide and execute domestic and foreign policies without interference from another country. Therefore a neo – colony cannot exercise true democracy. Neo-colonialism means the control of a weak country by a more powerful one. The subject country loses control of its destiny. The master nation controls both the domestic and foreign policies of the neo-colony. In other words, the weak country loses part of its sovereignty. It loses power and freedom to make its own decisions. It loses the ability to practice democracy too.

·         Free and fair political competition: There is peaceful, free and fair competition between parties for the right to control the government. In order to control such competitiveness, there ought to be the following requirements. First, permanent party organization at the local and national level. No opposition party can exist without continuous and permanent struggle against the ruling party. The goals of these parties should not be linked with the personal interests of particular party leaders. Second there ought to be continuous contact at all levels of a given political party. Thirdly, there should be determination of party leaders to hold political office. Fourthly, there should be determination of the party to gain popular acceptance for its programmes. Fifthly, there must be constant search for more members. Such requirements can exist only in a multiparty system. Therefore, mono – party system cannot be democratic. It is a rejection of democracy and it leads to dictatorship.\

·         Accountability: In a democracy, elected and appointed officials ought to be accountable to the people. They must make decisions and perform their duties according to the wishes of the people, not for their own interest.

·         Smooth transfer of power: In democracy there is a well-established and transparent system of transferring power from one political party to another. Economic freedom: In a democracy people must have economic freedom. This means that the Government allows people to own private property and businesses. People can choose what work to do and can join trade unions. There should be free markets. The state should not control the economy.

·         Control of power abuse: In a democracy, elected and public officials are prevented from misusing their powers. The most common form of power misuse is corruption. This occurs when officials use public funds for their own benefit, accept bribes in order to render services, or exercise power illegally. Protection against abuse of power has been achieved through various methods. For example, having independent courts with power to take action against corrupt officials, allowing for citizen in elections, and checking police abuse of power.

·         Inclusion of a bill of rights in the constitution: A bill of right is a list of rights and freedom guaranteed to all citizens in country. Many democracies include a bill of right because it limits67the power of government with good intention. It may also impose obligations to individuals and organizations.

  ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

Economic integrations have been emphasized today due to globalization. Economic integrations refer to the combination or grouping together of several countries for the sake of cooperating in various undertakings to as to enjoy economic benefits. It is aimed at increasing the benefits of international trade and my result in political integration, which can be national or inter-state.

Economic integration is classified according to the levels or stages of development as follows: -

·         A Free Trade Area: This is the type of integration whereby countries remove all trade barriers such as tariffs, imports and export quotas or devices, so as to trade freely among member countries but each member country maintains unilateral right to impose tariffs on goods from the rest of the world. (Non-member countries).

·         A Custom Union: This is a stage at which, in addition to having abolished trade restriction among the member countries as in a free trade area, the members have a common tariff against non-members (third countries).

·         A Common Market: In this stage, on top of what takes place in customs union, there is a free factor movement among the member countries. This means that capital and labour are free to move within the region. The nationals (people from member countries) can find employment in any member country. For example, in East Africa a person from Kenya can go to work in Uganda or Tanzania and one from Tanzania or Uganda can go to any other member country and work.

·         An Economic Community (union): This embodies all elements of the common market; in addition, the member countries institute joint ownership of certain enterprises like roads, railways and so on. All economic policies in this stage are harmonized or are common.

·         Total Economic Integration: In this stage, not only there is free movement of commodities and other factors of production among the member states as in economic union, but also there is a unification of monetary, fiscal, social and other policies. The members can start using a common currency. In addition, there is a supra-national authority that makes decisions binding to all member countries.

NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR A SUCCESSFULLY ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

·         Differentiated products Exchange cannot take place if countries produce similar products: each country specializing in a commodity of comparative advantage.

·         Trade gains for integration to be successfully each member country must be gaining from trade: if some member countries do not gain from trade or any economic activity then the integration will not be successfully.

·         Similar level of development In order to reduce uneven distribution of gains among the member countries, countries should have similar level of economic development: if the levels of development are so wide, rich members will gain more than poor countries.

·         Good infrastructure: In order for economic integration to be successfully countries in the region of integration must be having good infrastructures to facilitate movement of goods and people from one area to another.

·         Political will and commitment: For a regional integration to be successfully political leaders must be willing and committed to implement various resolutions that are made and to make necessary decisions for the betterment of the integration.

·         Common Language Common language among the people in the integration enables ease communication among the people in the region when they engage in socio-economic and political activities: Common Currency in order to smoothen exchange a common currency is very important in the integration, absence of a common currency makes exchange to be difficult.

·         Member countries must be neighboursIt is easier for member countries to engage in economic activities and establish joint institutions when they are close neighbors in terms of geographical location than when they are located far distance from each other.

·         Cultural similarities Cultural similarities facilitate interactions among the people in various economic activities such as trade and investments.

·         Trade creation Trade creation is said to occur when a country in an integration import goods from a low cost member country after abolition of tariffs which it was importing from a high cost non- member country.

REASONS FOR ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

The rationale behind economic integration in the world includes the following: -

·         Economic integration leads to political cooperation and sharing of ideas and experiences which in turn bring effectiveness in the production process and promotion of peace and security for smooth development process

·         To intensify security, fraternity and unity among the countries, which have long been disunited and conflicting over various aspects, based on ethnic grounds.

·         To maintain peace and uphold the status of human rights among individuals of the member countries in order that democracy can prevail and discrimination of any kind can be brought to an end.

·         To expand the market among the member countries and attain a common voice on advocating the market for the goods of the member countries.

·         Another reason for economic integration is to establish good condition for industrial development among the member countries. This happens due to the fact that the removal of restrictions facilitates the movement of factors of production, distribution of products and fast spread of technology. Also duplication of industrial products is avoided when the countries decide to integration economically.

·         To promote transport and communication development for easy distribution of goods and services as well as facilitating information flow.

·         To promote comprehensive research activities on various areas that range from economic, social, political and environmental aspects.

·         Another reason for integration is to encourage diversification of the economies of the member countries following the expanded market and removal of trade restrictions. When countries decide to integrate various needs for various goods and services crop up leading to the need for producing a variety of goods and establishing various enterprises to cater for the increased needs.

·         Countries integrate so as to promote the capacity for rational or sustainable use of resources. This takes place after the advancement of science and technology in the member countries. In integration, people exchange ideas and experiences on how to better plan for sustainable use the available scarce but valuable resources.

·         To formulate common policies geared towards solving global problems like population explosion and migration, epidemic diseases like cholera, Ebola and HIV/AIDS, as well as environmental problems and challenges of globalization.

·         Economic integration also encourages heavy investment on the available resources. When countries integrate, they create confidence among the investors due to the fact that the market is expanded, peace and security are assured and the resources are easily available due to removal of restrictions or tariffs.

·         To promote the life standard among the member countries as a result of increased production, easy movement of goods and services and economic diversification.

·         To promote employment opportunities following the diversification of the economy and development of industries among the member countries.

·         Economic integration increases the opportunity to borrow from outside since it is easy to borrow as a community rather than a single country due to the fact that that the donor do not have high confidence on individual countries.

·         To promote the quality of production among the member countries through positive competition in the production process cumbersome and time-consuming leading to inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the commercial activities.

DISADVANTAGES OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

Economic integration has several disadvantages, which include the following:

Trade diversion: Low cost trade can be replaced by a high cost trade due to the geographical restrictions. A country can buy goods at a higher price than it is used to buy from another country, which are not members leading to the decline in profit or income generation. The other countries can start enjoying economic advantages in trade.

Movement of goods can be in one direction leaving other countries without goods: This can encourage the occurrence of polarized development in which some countries develop at a higher speed than other countries.

 Countries may be compelled to buy goods of poor quality within the region especially if the level of technology is low: This is a great problem in African countries where there is low level of technology in many countries. Agricultural products, for example, tend to be very poor due to poor methods of cultivation and processing among the countries.

Because of uneven industrial development, one country which is more industrialized: In the East African Community, for example Kenya was developing faster and at the expense of Tanzania and Uganda because of more industries that made her keep on exporting manufactured goods of high quality.

 Economic integration is usually associated with political problems: as some leaders tend to be in need of holding positions permanently so that they can keep on looting while in position.

 Cultural disruptions: which tend to stifle cooperation among the members, can occur following the multiple interactions of people from different member countries. In East Africa for example, one can see deterioration of morals, and prevalence of other unwanted behavioral aspects.

FACTORS THAT CAN FACILITATE ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

·         Explosive population expansion creates pressure for resources and forces the governments to concentrate on solving the problems of population growth like food supply rather than focusing on then economic integration among the member countries.

·         Inferiority among the small countries: which fear being dominated by other countries, some of which are even more developed than them, is a hindrance too. These small and poor develop feeling that they can lose their freedom and the available few resources

·         Strong determination among the states can lead to the fast pace of economic integration: This is due to the fact that when people are determined they tend to be ready to work very effectively for the purpose of bringing about common development.

·         Language which functions as a unifying force can lead to fast economic integration: When people communicate intelligibly they easily exchange ideas and experience as a result they cooperate easily in solving common problems.

·         Readiness to cooperate among the leaders of states also plays a great role in facilitating economic integration: This happens when some of the leaders are ready to relinquish some of the leaders are ready to relinquish some of their powers and work cooperatively.

·         External influences also play a great role in integration: Some donors urge that they cannot provide assistance to individual countries since there can be misuse of fund provided. Also experiences of success in the integration from outside stimulate the need to integrate. For example, the EU has been a strong dynamo in stimulating the formation of the African Union (AU). Another external influence is related to the dynamics within the international trade. The existence of poor trading system and especially poor pricing in the world market make the developing countries join to have a stronger voice in bargaining for better prices and also to pave the way for the creation of the international market.

·         Well-developed infrastructure can also expedite the pace of economic integration: If, for example, there is good transport and communication network the movement of goods and services as well as the flow of information takes place effectively.

·         Where the countries exhibit positive economic performance can integrate very easily unlike the countries where there are poor records of economic performances: Usually the countries, which are very poor and have few resources, tend to take time to accept integration for fear of losing freedom to the stronger nations. In Africa for example many countries fear South Africa and Libya due to their stronger economics bases.

·         Existence of peace and security in the countries: which intend to cooperate, can also hasten the pace of economic integration. Where there are political conflicts integration is not attained easily since people who are the major stakeholders of integrations ventures are usually restless and some run out of their countries of origin to other countries as refugees

·         Low Technology is one of the hindrances of economic integration: This slows down the industrial development among the member countries. Low technology leads to poor quality of product and hence low market for the products leading to poor income generation.

·         Political instability: characterized by wars and other problems disrupt peace and security and keep people restless such that they cannot settle and produce or interact effectively.

·         Balkanization (division) of the states is another limitation: This leads to the poor cooperation in different economic aspects since people of one country tend to feel as different in status and belongingness from people of other countries.

·         Poor infrastructure network like roads: railways make cooperation ineffective since movement of factors of production, as well as goods and services can take place effectively between member countries.

·         High degree of poverty among the member countries weakness the cooperation. Because of poverty people fail to move from one country to another, they cannot invest properly in technology promotion and production of high quality goods, and efficient provision services.

·         The resources are not evenly distributed since some countries are naturally endowed with more resources than other member countries: This also leads to poor cooperation as some countries are not ready to share their resources with other countries, which lack such resources.

·         Environmental predicaments (problems) like floods: such as those of Malawi and Mozambique; earthquakes, drought, diseases like EBOLA that hit Uganda, and the75HIV/AIDS pandemic disrupt cooperation due to the fact that people are not physically and psychologically settled and hence, cannot cooperate effectively.

·         Cultural differences are also setbacks to economic integration: This is manifested through existence of many tribes, religions and political ideologies. With different cultural orientations people fail to easily reconcile their differences and work together smoothly.

·         Some countries are reluctant or are not committed to contributing for the development of the organization leading to ineffective running of the various functions.

·         High illiteracy rate is also another bottleneck: This obstructs the diffusion of technology among the member countries.

EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION IN TANZANIA

The impact of globalization in Tanzania can be discussed under political, economic, social or cultural categories. Globalization has positive and negative effects as discussed below.

Social –Economic Effects

·         This potentially means that every country can get everything it needs, and get it at the best price. If you can cheaply produce your product, then you can also sell it cheap.

·         This trade spreads environmentally beneficial products and technologies to countries that otherwise could not have the technology. In this way and in others, globalization gives a “helping hand” for developing countries

·         On the economic point of view, globalization as worldwide phenomena have both positive and negative effects on developing countries like Tanzania.

·         Many economist support globalizations because they believe it is beneficial for all countries involved. Economists believe that: if there is worldwide trade then there will be more efficient use of resources.

·         Each country can make money off of the product they can most easily produce. Every country will be able to produce a maximum amount of goods and services for a limited cost. If each country produces what it is best at manufacturing then, it can trade that abundant product for other products the country itself cannot produce.

Positive Effects

• Through liberalization of social services there is a wide spread of private schools, hospitals, dispensaries which contribute much in providing services to people hence improving their wellbeing.

·         Through trade liberalization and free – market economy, globalization has stimulated much the utilization of natural resources. There are many companies which are investing in natural resources such as the mining companies at Mwadui, Bulyankulu, Geita, Nzega and Kahama. Presence of these foreign companies enables Tanzania to utilize her resources for development of her people.

·         Globalization has made production and transportation of goods easier and faster than ever before. Therefore, it enables Tanzania to get different varieties if goods in both quality and quantity, from any corners of the world. These goods include electronic devices (computers, mobile phones). Food, medicine, automobile and chemicals.

·         In some instances, globalization has created employment opportunity to many people. For example foreign companies like Vodacom, Zain, Zantel and Tigo have employed thousands of killed Tanzanians.

Negative Effects

·         Presence of multinational companies in Tanzania if not well controlled may acquire super profits through exploiting the citizens and the countries resources to the maximum.

·         Globalization sometimes creates unemployment. With growth of technology, machines greatly replace human labour therefore unemployment sometimes increases. The introduction of electronic devices like computer technology and its programs have led to eviction of many Tanzanians from their jobs.

·         Through privatization and capital mobility, Northern countries (Europe, North America) undermine southern countries (Africa, Asia, South America) through unequal exchange. Most of potential natural resources in developing countries are owned by companies from developed countries hence undermining local communities

·         For developing countries like Tanzania, free trade causes a decline and underdevelopment of the industrial sector and local technology. The decline of industrial sector and local technology is caused by influx of goods from outside whose prices are low and are of higher quality than our local goods.

·         Advancement in technology causes environmental degradation. More increase in the use of advanced machines and modern equipment’s causes environmental degradation. Technological advancement in the mining sector, agriculture, fishing, transport systems and industrial sector threatens environmental quality in Tanzania. Moreover, poor countries like Tanzania have been turned to a garbage bin of capitalist waste products. Globalization has also made Tanzanians spend much of their resources in recreation activities instead of investing it into productive programme. As an adaptation from Western culture some Tanzanians, spend their money for buying beer, pornographic materials, drugs and other useless materials.

POLITICAL EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION

Positive effects

·         Globalization has brought about important changes in the content of international law. Contemporarily states like Tanzania makes laws which comply with international laws and therefore it abides with them in such a way that it can no longer mistreat her citizens the way it wishes. Issues like human rights, social justice are part of Tanzania’s constitution, by laws and statutes which effectively started to be used in Tanzania in 1987.

·         Under globalization, Tanzania has integrated itself into global politics through international agencies and organizations. New forms of multilateral and global politics have been established involving governments including the government of Tanzania.

·         Globalization has made it necessary for poor countries like Tanzania to form strong political organization such as the formation of the East Africa Federation. (iv) Globalization has speeded up the democratization process in Tanzania. In order to promote democracy Tanzania is adopting global democratic principles such as rule of law, transparency, multiparty, accountability and it is trying to implement those aspects.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION

Tanzania has been affected by global political disorders and terrorism. The bombing of the USA embassy in Dar es Salaam is a product of global political conflict which involves USA and Al-Qaeda terrorists who protest against USA imperialism.

Negative Effects of Globalization, There has been centralization of power political power in biggest capitalist powers. The above situation has created an interstate situation whereby the poor nations are made accountable to bigger countries like USA, UK, than to their citizens.

Globalization is pushing down the efforts of the poor countries like Tanzania to form strong political organizations such as the African Union or East African Community due to spread of spheres of interest to the regions by biggest powers from America and Western Europe. Countries like Tanzania become more interested to cooperate with one of the capitalist countries rather than her neighboring countries like Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia etc. wishing to get more profit.

 In some cases, globalization with its related political propagandas such as multiparty, transparency, accountability, rule of law and others create chaos in the country. There are some politicians who manipulate the above agendas of democracy to jeopardize peace and security that have existed in countries since independence

CULTURAL EFFECTS GLOBALIZATION

 Positive Effects of Globalization

·         Globalization has revealed out some bad cultural practices which have been performed by some communities. For instance, the issue of female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is globally condemned with great emphasis from different international agencies.

·         Through development of information and communication technology like the internet, fax machines, satellite and cable TV, globalization has managed to integrate all cultural practices in the world and have common cultural practices in the world and have common cultural practices such as sports, games and music.

·         Globalization has made diffusion of good international beliefs and values to the individual nations. Each community in the world including Tanzanian communities are struggling to archive those world cultural standards i.e. respect of human rights, and better living standards.

·         The expansion of the great world religious institutions particularly in Africa and Asia has transformed bad socio-cultural value into modern and acceptable ones. In Tanzania, the speed of the country plays a significant role in eradication of bad and unacceptable cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilation, forced marriages and harassment of women.

 Negative Effects of Globalization

Globalization has swept away cultural boundaries which exist by the use of advanced information and communication technology such as, the radio, TVs, internets and magazines. This situation has led to destruction of interior cultures of Africans including Tanzania. Most Tanzanians particular young men have been influenced by the Western ways of life.

 Cultural global ties have been responsible for erosion of morals in societies. Immoral behaviours such as homosexuality, drugs abuse, violence, prostitution, and other related behaviours have been brought about by globalization.

 African native languages including Kiswahili have been undermined by English language. English has become a globalization language such that it is conceived by many80Tanzanians that speaking English is a sign of civilization. By so doing, our local languages including Kiswahili are being abandoned or left to be used by less educated people who also wish they knew English.

Some effects of globalization have also been experienced in the assessment of the existing African traditional songs and ceremonies which are being replaced by Western ones.

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON ENVIRONMENT

Globalization has a huge impact on environment. World trade can bring about many good things such as more efficient use of resources and aid to underdeveloped countries. But globalization can also have damaging effects on our planet.

Negative impacts:

·         The high demand of natural resources which has been caused by advance in science and technology goes together with deforestation. Hundred thousands of hectares of forests are destroyed for mining activities, construction of houses, railways, dams, industries and areas for settlement.

·         Globalization has increased pollution due to the constant emission of toxic gases from the heavy industries.

·         Globalization can lead to shrinking forests and fisheries as well as the extinction and wrongful transportation of animals.

·         Globalization has increase d global warming due to gradual increase of atmospheric temperature caused by emission of gases and smokes from industries and auto mobiles in the modern world. These gases prevent the escape of heat from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere.

CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION IN TANZANIA

The following are challenges of globalization in Tanzania.

·         The low level of education in Tanzania is posing big challenges to Tanzania under this world of globalization. The levels of education among Tanzanians are very low compared to that in other countries in the world. This level of education fails to meet intellectual demands of globalization such as technological skills, managerial skills, entrepreneur skill and marketing skills. Thus Tanzanians will not be able to compete in employment opportunities with others from other countries.

·         Low level of the use of communication system. In Tanzania the use of global, communication satellites and telephone is still low and under developed. Most of communication systems are confirmed to the urban areas while a rural population which is bigger is still unconnected with the world communication system. A problem of uneven distribution of communication system where internets, mobile phones and others are only found in cities and big towns will make the rural population become isolated (marginalized) from this global village.

·         The other challenges which Tanzania faces is low production, Tanzania’s economic sectors such as agriculture, industry, mining, fishing are not producing enough goods for export. The increase of international trade as one among the fundamental characteristics of globalization will leave Tanzania a buyer of foreign goods rather than a manufacturer and exporter.

·         Tanzania faces a problem of law serving and low investment growth, low saving, lack of individual capacity and prolonged vicious cycle of poverty among Tanzanians.

·         Moreover, Tanzanians primary exports are facing severe downward pressure of prices from world market. This trend is continuously discouraging primary producers which are mainly the defenseless peasants.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION

The following below are some of the solutions which Tanzanians can undertake so as to combat the challenges associated with globalization: -

·         There should be proper utilization of both natural and human resource so as to boost the economic growth. Tanzania has been experiencing the shortage of personnel like doctors yet there are many doctors from Tanzania who are walking abroad, this is improper utilization of human resources. Moreover, Tanzania faces a problem of shortage of food almost each year but they are so many uninhibited areas with fertile soils but still undeveloped.

·         Education should be given a significant priority and compulsory to all people. Tanzanians government should make sure that most if not all Tanzanians get not only education but higher quality education which will enable them to cope with challenges brought about by globalization.

·         Tanzania should create policies which focus on its own problems and lay strategies to reduce poverty by focusing on provisional health, education and social security to her citizens.

·         There should be well prepared environment and conditions for investors so as to stabilize our macro economy. Attractions of investors must go together with stated conditions which will make Tanzanians benefit from foreign investments, rather than being the watchers of profit transactions.

·         For Tanzania to compete with other countries in the world market, she should develop and promote researchers, providing education to all the people on how to improve production of their goods so as to have quality goods which can withstand competition.

·         Regional integrations and co-operations should be encouraged so as to have a common say against exploitative practices done by developed countries. Membership of regional integrations and co-operations like SADC, and East Africa can enable Tanzania and other countries to at least fight back against the negative effect of globalization.

                                    TOPIC TWO

Meaning of Aspects and Elements of Culture

Culture can be defined as all the behaviours, ways of life, arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed from generation to generation. Culture has been called “the way of life of an entire society”. As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior -as law and morality - and systems of beliefs, as well as the arts.

The Origin of Culture: As stated before, culture is the totality of people's way of life, so it is compatible with human life. It is argued historically that, culture started simultaneously with the creation of man and the formation of communities of people, as they were adopting themselves to their environment and struggled to sustain their livelihoods. As human beings started to struggle for basic needs in their environment, they used different tools, ranging from stone to iron tools such as axes, arrows pots and knives.

At the beginning culture was also determined by wearing style. Previously man made clothes using animal’s skins, grasses and trees. Language was used in communication especially when man established permanent settlements. Language united people during working, such as cultivating and hunting; through language man was able to construct songs and poems, which were used as a part of refreshments particularly when issues arose such as traditional rites. Although culture went hand in hand with human life, it varied according to the needs of the society, and the influence of environment.

Culture has two aspects which are:-

 Material culture: This is the extent of materials or wealth produced or used in a society. It includes the achievements to which one has mastered; level of instrument and technical skills, the scientific organization of labour, the availability of individual material and everyday needs. Instruments of labour are the tools individuals use to carry out material production. Their quality depends on the level of science and technology of a given society in that particular time in history. The level of material culture is expressed in skills and know-how applied in material production. It is also seen in other material elements of the society's life. For example, in the objects one uses, such as clothes, furniture and utensils, scientific, academic and medical equipment, as well as transport facilities.

 Intellectual culture: This is societal knowledge, skill and technical ability to organize and produce things as well as how one relates with others. This includes the achievements reached in science, education, ethics, literature and art. It is also reflected in the political ideas, civic education, legal relations, language, speech and behavior. Whereas,

Culture is traditionally considered as kind of civilization and is very complex. It includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, traditions, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by an individual as a member of society. Culture consists of patterns of behavior which are acquired and transmitted by symbols. Essentially, culture consists of traditional ideas.

Essentially, culture consists of traditional ideas, particularly their associated values. These include standards of behavior and ideology which justifies certain ways of behavior. Culture is rooted in the facts we know about human nature. There is an interplay between man, his environment and society. As a result of this interplay, man behaves in certain ways.

Man shapes the environment and he is also shaped by his environment. Thus, while it is true to say that man makes society, it is equally true to say that society makes man. Hence, culture refers to the total way of life shared in the society. Culture therefore, consists of behavior patterns that are either open or hidden.

Open or explicit behavior patterns are those whose meanings are easily understood either by an individual or outside observers. Examples could be like patterns of modesty and hospitality. This does not mean that an open pattern of behavior is universal and is practiced in the same way in all cultures. In fact, there can be many variations in its expression from one culture to another.

In hidden or implicit behaviours patterns, the meaning of these patterns is not easily understood because it depends on other factors which are hidden in the cultural system. The inner aspect is not openandis either deliberately concealed or pertains to the unconscious life of the group. There are many concealed social practices in all parts of the world, especially common social fears; fear of the evil eye, fear of witchcraft, fear of speaking openly about sexual matters, taboos, fear of the luck on certain days or after certain occurrences like split salt. Although the practice of these things may be open and public, their meanings remain concealed. In most parts of Tanzania, salt is not asked for or bought at night by literally translated as "kitchen medicine. ‟

Man needs culture in order to survive, but in order to be cultured he must participate in the cultural life of his human environment. He must get line with the norms of his human environment. Therefore, in this sense man lives by his culture. It follows therefore that; culture is the common way of living.

Elements of culture manifest themselves in physical and practical ways.

Laws: Laws form another indicator of culture; there is no culture without laws. We can define laws as deliberately formulated rules of behavior that are enforced by a special authority. Laws serve several purposes; they enforce the mores accepted by the dominant cultural group in the society, regulate new situations not covered by customs and bring about the real cultural and ideal patterns of a society. The enforcement of norms by law in Tanzania is the responsibility of the society and community as a whole. For instance, it is the responsibility of every individual, family and community as a whole to make sure children go to school. Failure to implement this obligation may result in the forces being applied to enforce this law.

Cooperation: this implies interacting with others in the community. It helps not only the members in getting insight into what goes on in the community but also gives a chance to members to learn and benefit from the community. It is very important for each organization to stabilize personal relationships between members of society. This is essential to primary or secondary groups. Primary groups in this context include the family, schools, organized clubs, or villages where members know each other. Secondary groups include large societies and nations.

 Customs and Norms: Customs refer to short-lived patterns of behavior shared by members of a groupandcan be directly observed. For instance, people who know each other greet by shaking hands whenever they meet while others hug each other. However, customs differ from one society to another. The set of customs form one of the indicators of culture.

Norms are accumulated experiences proven to be acceptable and appropriate ina given society, and they have a tendency to exist forlong periods before they change or disappear. This forms the main difference between norms and customsas normshaveatendencyto exist forlong periods before they change or disappear. Whereas customs on the other hand are passing and vulnerable to change. Take for instance, the wearing of clothes, shoes or hats in a certain fashion usually changes with time.

Norms can be classified in different ways. All groups are called folkways and they are further subdivided into mores. There are special folkways that a society regards as essential for its welfare. Mores are enforced with great vigor and intensity. Folkways are practices that govern most of our daily routine and ordinary contact with other people. They often define what is socially correct and are informally enforced. However, the violation of folkways is not considered as a threat to the group at large. Folkways can include the daily practice of things such as languageandeating habits. Take for example, someone may not be allowed to use his left hand to eat or to adhere to the proper way of greeting elders.

Folkways define proper etiquette in various roles. For example, they distinguish children's roles from men's roles. They govern our general style of life in types of case, dressing, food and feeding habits. Other behavior patterns include education, marriage, recreational activities, youth initiation, science and technology. Furthermore, death and burial procedures, forms of governance, respect to status and mode of communication to people of different ranks are essential to the folkways of a given society.

On the other hand, mores are norms that are considered vital to the welfare of a society. They are not only proper but also obligatory. They are supported by the dominant values or principles of the culture. Mores define right and wrong, moral and immoral actions, thoughts and feelings. They may be expressed in a command way such as “You must not!” in which way they are referred to as taboos.

Fashions are highly passing patterns of behavior. Fashions allow many changes in norm. Things like art, dress or furnishings can change so fast. Fashions appear to be of high importance in complex urban societies. Women usually change their dressing styles from time to time, to stay up-to-date with the changing fashions.

 Language: This is another important element or indicator of culture. Language is a learned, shared and arbitrary system of vocals and symbols through which human beings communicate. It is a system of convectional symbols that covey meaning and is a useful instrument in all economic, social, political, psychological and ideological aspects of society. Language is not only a communicative instrument but also is a product of work. In their effort to produce goods and services, people develop words and therefore, language is further developed. Each language shapes and shows the culture, behavior patterns and understanding of the group that speaks it. It presents to the learning child a ready–made and distinctive way of looking at the world. It also guides him/her to not only observe the world in a certain way, but also to express him/herself and react in a certain way. Every language has an effect upon what the people use, see and feel, as well as what they talk about.

The names given, for example, to various relatives in different cultures are often symbolicasthey connote different behavioral norms. In Kiswahili for instance, we regard the brother of our father as our father, and the sister of our mother as our mother. This helps indicate how close these relatives are to you and therefore, the kind of behavior you should express towards them.

Language is an instrument that enables communication among people in their customs, norms, philosophy and ideology of a given society. Over 100 languages are spoken in Tanzania, most of which from the Bantu family. After independence, the government recognized that this poseda threat to national unity and as a result introduced the Swahili language (Kiswahili) as the only official language. The government introduced it as the teaching language in all primary schools help encourage and spread its use.

Given the conditions of the material time, it was not possible to introduce the language in the entire educational system as the scale of the task of producing Swahili textbooks for primary schools was already considerable. As a result, English (which has been considered the colonial language since the end of the First World War) is still used in high schools and universities. However, great majority of Tanzanians have accepted Swahili, thus English is generally not well known. As a result of this linguistic situation, many pupils who finish primary education cannot express themselves well in English. Although many tribal languages are actively practiced and used, they do not enjoy the same linguistic rights as Swahili. However, little by little they are disappearing. To date, none of them has entirely vanished, but it is clear that unless the linguistics policy is changed, many of them will soon cease to exist.

Kiswahili as the national language in Tanzania has the function of developing, enhancing and maintaining the nation's culture. How then does Kiswahili as a national language promote national culture? Kiswahili like any other language has symbols that are spoken or written. And these symbols have specific and arbitrary meanings in society. Before we can answer the question above on how Kiswahili can promote national culture, we should first discuss the possibilities.

First, language caries people's experience beyond an immediate time and place. That is, when these symbols (words) are spoken and/or written, the meanings conveyed stay for a longer time and they also go to distant places beyond where these words were spoken or written. Let us look at the experience we have from words spoken by our ancestors and words written by other people who lived far from where we live.

Every one of us has a list of traditional stories that were told to him or her by one of his/her grandparents. This story could be about bravery, praise, sorrow or happiness. Whatever meaning the story had, it created some feelings that had an impact on your attitude. The result of this impact is the change of your behavior in the community.

A common language binds people together. To speak the same language is to have a strong bond. And this strong bond enables a person a person to work together, which is one of the most favorable cultural values.

 Art: Thisis an element or indicator of culture. Art as part of culture is an expression which reflects the feelings, attitudes and level of development of society. Arts denote man made things displayed to be enjoyed. For instance, dramatizing and singing. Any art which originates from a given society has roles to perform for that society. For example, it reflectively shows what people have done in their struggle for survival. The carvings, the painting, the songs, and drama represent certain actual struggles or practical life these people have experienced before.

 The following are forms of Art

·         Visual aids like pictures, maps, paints and cinema.

·         Demonstration of cultural troupes, sport, and games.

·         Using sound such as in singing or pronouncing a speech: When someone combines language and instruments like when doing some things like singing, drumming and dramatizing.

·         Art reflects the feelings of patriotism in the struggle for the development of a national economy. This situation drives people to the extent of musicians coming up with songs calling for change in national institutions, whereas some defend, support and praise national institutions.

·         Art reflects the type of problems encountered by a given society. These problems can be social, political or economic. The drawings in the Kondoa caves typically reflect the economic occupation of the people in that area in the past.

·         Art is one of the most effective communicative systems in traditional societies that tend to be illiterate. Art is used to convey, store and preserve important events and phenomena in a society. Important memories in life can only be artistically expressed to appraise events. Art also preserves records of those successes in different forms.

 Rules: In their collective form, rules or patterns form another indicator of culture for behavior, known as Norms. These rules are those that members of a group, community or society agree to follow. The rules determine what is right or wrong in a given society. Norms are connected with ranks as well as situationsandare recognized into roles. The pattern of behavior expected of people differs from ranks, such as husbands, fathers, citizens, employees, and children.

It is also a norm for our children to start greeting and vacating seats for elders in certain situations. Norms include the most important things in the society. Consider things like taboos, legacy, history, rituals, treatment of diseases, respect, obedience and laws concerning marriage, births, inheritance and burial ceremonies to mention only a few.

Recreation: Another important element of culture is recreation. The word recreation means relaxing and amusement. In any society where work is done, recreation is quite necessary. Work tires the body and mind so it is vital to rest and experience entertainment. Good entertainment is that which refreshes a person e.g. voluntary hobbies, sports, games, music and even dancing.

 Ideology: Ideology combines the beliefs of peopleandis this element of culture that lays down principles and conditions to be followed by a given society. Ideology forms the foundation for all other elements of culture. The mode of production is one which explains the way people own property and how they share what they produce.

The fact that the ideologies shared by a society is a product of how people own property, it is clear that the type of ideology prevailing in a society will be a true reflection of the type of the organization of the economy in general. For instance, in society where the dominant type of ownership is private, the beliefs of the people in that particular society is completive and individualistic.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Production tools and Crafts: Tools are instruments of labour used by people for production and they differ from one society to another depending on the nature and level of technology of the society. For example, tools used in the Stone Age were poor compared to the tools used during the Iron Age. These tools included iron hoes, axes and pangas. Crafts are technological creations by man that express man's culture. Examples of crafts are decorations and carved materials. These differ in form according to the culture of the society. People utilize, and in some cases exploit their environment to make crafts.

 Tradition: These are experiences of the past that are inherited by a society and are unchangeable. They include marriage, food, local brews, funeral ceremonies, family care and home economics. Other aspects include initiation, worshiping system, sports and games. Every society has its own tradition.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CULTURAL ELEMENTS

Sports and games promote unity: cooperation and friendship among social members. This is because sport and games collect people together to share different ideas and build a better society.

Crafts in particular: provide households with necessary materials such as furniture, pots and baskets which are used daily. Some of them can be sold to provide money for people, hence a source of income.

Traditions are also worthwhile. For example, initiation ceremonies prepare young boys and girls for their responsibilities to society as adults. They promote people from childhood to adulthood. Some traditions and customs such as marriage and burial ceremonies bring people together at times of problems and/or pleasure.

Language is used to convey messages and is also part of the identity of a nation. For example, Kiswahili in Tanzania distinguishes the nation of Tanzania from other nations in the world who use different languages such as English, French and German. Language can be used to unite, educate and inculcate a sense of awareness to youth.

Customs help societies adopt certain cultural values like dressing style, eating habits, hairstyles etc. which are sometimes worthwhile for acceptable in certain occasions - e.g. in wedding ceremonies.

Recreation refreshes a person after hard work:  It helps people relax and gather energy before they engage in production again. Hence, recreation is important to man. Ideology is another important cultural element because it lays down principles and conditions to be followed by a given society. Thus, it provides a guideline to how people should live in a given place and time.

Like ideology, rules and laws are very crucial cultural elements as they defend social norms and determine what is right or wrong in the society. Thus, they shape the behavior of people.

Co-operation is the next crucial element of culture, as it promotes interaction of people in a given society. Through interaction, people are able to perform collective and important activities like burials or pastoral activities which a single person cannot do.

Disadvantages of Culture Elements

·         Through visual arts such as video and television: indigenous culture can be destructed by imposition of foreign culture. Foreign culture is imposed through the media such as radio, print and television. People learn different practices such as inappropriate dress styles, and other things like gay lifestyles.

·         Social institutions and religious beliefs can transmit negative attitudes to the people about the culture of a certain society. For example, colonial education and religion imparted ideas of despising Africa culture and glorifying western culture.

·         Traditional ceremonies: contribute a lotto the spread of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) and diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Initiation ceremonies which involve circumcision of birth female and male can also cause problems such as the transmission of HIV/AIDS, especially when they are not done properly. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) can cause high bleeding and difficulties during childbirth.

·         There are some traditional ways of life which prohibit certain groups of people from eating certain kinds of food which are nutritious. For example, there are taboos in some societies that prohibit women from eating eggs when they are pregnant. Additionally, some discourage family planning. Polygamist tradition may also be a cause of poverty and the spread of HIV /AIDS. Patriarchy system as cultural practices limit women rights and hence retards development of the society.

Importance of Each Element of Culture

·         It exposes youngsters to tasks that are similar to those of elders.

·         It is a medium for bringing up youth in order to cope in society.

·         It enables people to transmit their skills, knowledge and wisdom from one generation to another

·         Culture helps make young people familiarize themselves with social values notably language, beliefs and taboos.

·         It gives knowledge to people (young ones) on social transformation of different societies.

·         It helps people to know their past social settings and laws that have been governing nature in different societies.

·         It equips learners with insightful knowledge on bad and good cultural practices and therefore chooses the positive ones.

Language is used in a particular society to convey message. Language is also an identity of a nation. For example, Kiswahili in Tanzania identifies the nation of Tanzania among other nations in the world who use different languages such as English, French and German. Language can be used to unite, educate and inculcate the sense of awareness to youth.

Sports and games promote unity: cooperation and friendship among the social members. This is because sport and games collect people together for sharing different ideas to build a better society.

Crafts in particular: provide the household with necessary materials such as furniture, pots and baskets which are used daily. Some of them can be sold and provide money to people, hence a source of income.

Traditions are also worthwhile for example: Initiation ceremonies prepare the young boys and girls to make part their responsibility in the society as adults. They promote people from childhood to adulthood. Some traditions and customs are worth –for example marriage and burial ceremonies because they collect and bind together at times of problems and pleasure and share different ideas.

Customs help societies to adopt briefly certain cultural values like dressing style, eating habits, hairstyles etc. which are sometimes worthwhile for acceptable in certain occasions - e.g. in wedding ceremonies.

Art helps us to express our feelings, attitude and events in a very enjoyable way – e.g. through songs, drama and pictures.

Recreations bring refreshment to a person after hard work: They help persons to relax and gather energy before they engage in production again. Hence recreations are important to man. Ideology is another important cultural element because it lays down the principles and conditions to be followed by a given society. Thus, it provides a guideline to how people should live in a given place and time.

Like ideology, rules and laws are very crucial as cultural elements because they defend social norms and determine what is right or wrong in the society. Thus, they shape the behavior of people.

Co-operation is the next crucial element of culture, because it promotes interaction of people in a given society. Through interaction, people are able to perform collective and important activities like burials or pastoral activities which a single person cannot do.

Disadvantages of Culture Elements

·         Traditional ceremonies: This contribute much to the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections). Initiation ceremonies which involve circumcision of birth female and male can also cause problems such as transmission of HIV/AIDS especially when they are unsafely done. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) can cause high bleeding and difficulties during childbirth. Through visual arts such as video and television indigenous culture can be destructed by imposition of foreign culture. Foreign culture. Foreign culture is imposed through the media such as the radio, video and television. People learn different practices such as bad wearing styles, and other things like gay marriages.

·         Social institutions and religious beliefs can transmit negative attitudes to the people about the culture of a certain society. For example, colonial education and religion imparted ideas of despising Africa culture and glorifying western culture. Christian missionaries said Africa culture was “barbaric”.

·         There are some traditional ways of life which prohibit certain groups of people to eat some kind of food which is nutritious. For example, there are taboos in some societies which prohibit women from eating eggs when they are pregnant. Again some discourage family planning.

·         Polygamist tradition may also be a cause of poverty and spread of HIV /AIDS. Patriarchy system as cultural practices limits women rights and hence retards development in the society.

Positive and Negative Aspects of our Cultural Values

Identify positive and negative aspects of our cultural values

Positive aspects of cultural values

Participation in civil works:  is a positive cultural value since it brings people together towards performing different constructive activities for the betterment of all the people e.g. constructing roads, building schools for our children or even building dispensaries and clinics in places where there is that demand.

Hard work is another positive cultural value certainly because through hard work a person is able to produce more and better goods and service for the betterment of oneself, the community and the nation.19Being informed is an important cultural value because; it makes an individual knowledgeable about one‟s duties, responsibilities and rights in his/her society.

Accountability and transparency: The society is supposed to perform its functions and duties with openness so that people know what the society understands of their society. Once this is done, peoples‟ expectations and wishes can be fulfilled. Transparency is very necessary for the development of people and the society at large.

The communal self-help is a crucial culture value as it promotes performance of collective work in the society for the betterment of the people of the people themselves.Care for the young is a very vital cultural value and it is done not only by parents but all members of the community. In traditional societies, each adult person was a teacher and care taker to the young.

 Respect for the law: Hence this helps to maintain order and discipline in that given society. In a society with peace and order no one is above the law.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF CULTURAL VALUES

FGM: This is a long term of female genital mutilation, and is defined as, the process of removing female sexual parts including clitoris’s. It has more effects to human health such as over bleeding and sometimes cause death especially during delivery or birth.

There are several reasons which force some of the societies to adopt FGM. Most reasons are based on the nature of the society. Among these are as follows:

It is propounded that FGM goes with initiation ceremonies that promote young girls to women hood. Thus it is considered by some prestige traditional societies as a prestige and a sign of maturity among girls.

To control women’s sexuality: Societies which adopt this practice (FGM) know that biologically there are some parts of the body which are very sensitive during sexual intercourse. One of them is the clitoris. So to prevent a girl from developing interest in sexuality and become loose they mutilate it.

Effects of Female Genital Mutilation

Women who are mutilated develop a feeling of anxiety and depression: This can be a result of the pain they feel during circumcision or due to the deformation of their pain they feel during circumcision or due to the deformation of their genitalia. This can cause psychological disturbance.

Marital conflicts due to sexual dissatisfaction: This situation can result from two reasons. Some men dislike women who are mutilated. On the hand, circumcised women don’t enjoy the sexual activity. Thus, they lack satisfaction in sexuality and may dislike sexuality altogether.

The practice can lead to the loss of one’s life. Some girls and women loss of blood from the cut part.

 The last effect is possibility of getting the HIV/AIDS infection as this practice is done under unsafe conditions. Sometimes a single knife is used to circumcise several girls/women without being sterilized. For this case, those who are mutilated have the risk of being infected with HIV/ and may also get other diseases.

Effects of female Genital multilation

Early marriage: This is the process/situation whereby a person gets married before his/her right age. Normally the suggested right age for marriage is 18 years and above. Nowadays marriages among people under the right age have been common. This has been happening especially to young girls who21are married while they are still in tender age. These types of marriages are sometimes accompanied by forced marriages.

 Forced marriage: Sometimes young girls have been forced to get married to men whom they do not want. Parents or guardian propound this situation perhaps for the aim of reducing the burden of children at home. Young girls are thus forced to be married rather than being forced to attend school. The reason is, some parents depend on the dowry or bride price they get as capital for production. This situation leads to forced marriages. These are some of the driving forces for early marriage because some societies think that bride price and dowry can help them to run different social and economic activities.

Widows inheritance: Wife inheritance is the process of taking one’s wife after the death of her husband. Inheritance of wives can also be termed as inheritance of widows. This has been a major problem to the societies which practice this system of life these days. This is because those who tend to inherit widows can die due to the effects of HIV/AIDS because widows may be victims of HIV/AIDS and a person who inherits them will be infected. This endangers one’s life. Inheritance of widows should be discouraged in the society in order to avoid the rate of transmission of different diseases such as HIV and AIDS. Also inheritance of widows seems to be a violation of human rights because it has turned women into objects of leisure form men. Widows appear to be there to be inherited to satisfy men who inherit them. Inheritance of widows should be discouraged strongly in the nation.

These customs can best be analyzed by different institutions which perpetuate them. Such institutions are:-

Learning Institutions: In these institutions it is a common practice that boys are offered science subjects and mathematics, while girls are made to study the traditional girls subjects29such as home economics and typing. More often there is also discrimination from some teachers, who expect boys to be more intelligent than girls. Girls are not encouraged to work hard.

 Religious institutions: Church or Mosque leaders make references to the Bible or Quran on the submissive nature of women. Women are denied opportunities to hold positions of leadership and decision making in those institutions. In some mosques land churches, decisions made usually discriminate women.

 Work place: The socialization process in the community has effects on the community has effects on the gender division of labour for boys and girls. Girls are marginalized from participating in education and decision making activities.

 The family: The family-level, it is a belief that boys will continue the lineage and support the family, while girls will get married. Thus most families prefer to educate boys or spend more money on them at the expenses of girls, when a choice has to be made between the two.

Traditional institutions: Initiation ceremonies play a major role in perpetuating bias. Girls who have undergone initiation ceremonies become passive in school. Traditional counselors and elders initiate, girls with emphasis on submissiveness to men. Because of that, women do not take part in decision making at home.

GENDER DISCCRIMINATION

Gender discrimination: Refers to the situation where one part is given more priority than others. especially men’s are said to be given more chances and opportunities in thee society than women’s. Example. Priority of sending boys to schools than girls.

Major effects of gender discrimination

• Women continue to be left out in areas of development.

·         Women continue to face violence and aggression as they do not have any economic power base to support themselves

·         The values and attitudes that society holds for boys and girls have adverse effects on women. Generally, gender discrimination in national development has serious implications as follows:

·         With reference to sex there is unequal distribution of powers in all spheres of social life as in politics, economics, military and social sector.

·         Girls lack the spirit of competition in class, leading to poor performance in school work.

·         There are very few women at the managerial and decision –making levels.

CULTURE AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

There is relationship between culture and reproductive health of the given society. The cultural systems of life can be used to relate how far a society upholds reproductive health as a vital term or issue to every society. This is because people are naturally engaged in production. So reproduction needs a great care and attention so as to make it go smoothly. Reproductive health can be boosted or undermined by a society depending on the nature of culture. There are some cultural practices which are always degrading provision of social health services which are30professional such as the local medicines which are not professional such as the local medicines which are not professionally proved.

Reproduction means the process of giving out a newly born-off spring which resembles their parents. Reproductive health ensures people satisfactory and safe sexual life with capability of reproducing deciding when, how, why and also the ability to decide how many children to be obtained and the ability to be free from sexual transmitted disease like gonorrhea, HIV, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PIV) which damages the reproductive system.

The following are some of the reproductive health services necessary to the individual in the family and community: -

 Maternal clinics, child vaccinations and immunization.

 Birth control by using contraceptive methods such as drugs devices and operations. Lack of reproductive health services can lead to severe consequences. For example, many children could die due to lack of immunity against curable diseases. Moreover, many women could die during pregnancy or soon after giving birth. Tanzania is one of those countries in the world whose birth rates are very high. It is currently estimated to be growing at the rate of 2 -8 percent. A high birth rate affects the development of31the country negatively. Non-proportional increase of people to the rate of economic growth hinders meaningful development.

This is because there will be more months to feed than what is produced. Similarly, there will be more children to take to school.

Advantages of Reproductive health education

Reproductive health is very essential to everyone in the society. The following are some advantages of reproductive health education:

·         Prevention of HIV/AIDS. Unwanted pregnancies.

·         Promotion of gender rights and equality.

·         Improvement of women’s safety during pregnancy and childbirth.

·         Regulation of one’s fertility.

·         Prevention of major child diseases.

·         Strengthening the management of infertility.

Cultural values that encourage bearing many children

Family planning in most societies is not observed due to some cultural norms like belief system which is based on religion and prestige. For the case of religion some societies believe that each child is born with its luck, and that is the blessings from God. Also they stand on the notion that32God commanded people to bear children and fill the world. Thus, family planning is seen as the sin against God and the one who does so is sinning. Other societies believed that to have many children is the sign of great abilities in reproduction and are more fit in reproducing. Due to that case reproductive health is limited and obstacle and the society concerned.

Female genital mutilation: this causes prolonged bleeding during and after the mutilation. It also disturbs the natural vaginal elasticity during delivery due to the scar left after mutilation. It also reduces sexual pleasure during mating.

Cultural practices affecting women and reproductive health

We made some explanation on how women have been treated in our societies: Women have been at a disadvantage almost in all societies in the past. Many developing countries in Africa and Tanzania in particular have been affected negatively by had cultural practices. These include those habits of marriage, foods eating, and the practice of women mutilation, dowry payment, inheritance and excluding women from the consumption of certain foods.

We made a detected account of these practices in Book One and Book Three of this series. We need not say much about them in this book. However, we can touch some of them briefly in this text.

 Habits of marriage: In most African societies, there has been the practice of getting married to a woman by first fulfilling the condition of paying what is called bride- price. This price has stood as a payment paid for buying a commodity. Bride price paying has therefore acted as an enslaving factor for women. Two examples can help us to get a good picture of this cultural practice. A Sukuma woman married to a man with dowry of say twenty cattle, when she gives birth to a baby she compensates for the cattle given as bride price from her husband. If it is a baby girl the amount of cattle as compensation is a bit higher than a baby boy. Usually it was at the ratio of 5:4 until the amount of cattle paid is exhausted then the woman is counted liberated. If she wants to divorce for unbearable causes, she would be needed to repay the cattle in spite of her time spent with the husband and her labour in producing whatever agricultural products or any other material gains that she has contributed to the wellbeing of her family.33In other tribes particularly pastoral communities they have no regard to whatever the wife has contributed to the wellbeing of her family. If she is divorced, she will have to repay whatever amount of cattle was given to her father. Habit of food eating: In some tribe’s women are forbidden to eat certain types of food.

 Decision Making: There has always been the cultural practice of excluding women in decision making in important domestic, economic and political issues. Women have been regarded as being unable to give good ideas on certain socioeconomic issues like marriage, education and the domestic budget.

In addition, to the above explanations, the following are the problems facing women in Tanzania.

 Poor health: This is due to the focus of the society that women should bear many children something that tends to weaken their health.

 Poor diet and little food.

Lack of education.

 Too much work: Women work harder and for many hours than men.

Maltreatment from their husbands: Some societies administer punishment over women. This cause physical injuries and psychological hopelessness.

Customs that Lead to the HIV/AIDS and STIs

Point out customs that lead to the HIV/AIDS and STIs

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Getting HIV infection leads to a weakened immune system. This makes a person with HIV to a group of illnesses that a healthy person without a virus would be unlikely34to be affected by opportunistic infections HIV/AIDS is a killer disease which has no cure or vaccine.

The following are cultural practices that lead to the spread of HIV/AIDS and STI‟s.

·         Inherited widows may contact or spread HIV from to men who inherit them.

·         Certain traditional dances are accompanied by alcohol drinking which can draw men and women into sexual intercourse. Such practices may cause the spread of HIV.

·         Local traditional midwives who are not well trained may spread HIV/AIDS to both mother and the newly born baby due to using unsterilized instruments.

·         Polygamy may also be a potential cause of HIV/AIDS. Once one of the wives get HIV/AIDS all of them will also get it.

·         Female genital mutilation (women circumcision) can lead to the spread of HIV because the instruments used are nit sterilized and are used by the whole group being circumcised. Most of the instruments used are knives, razor blades, and pairs of scissors or any other sharp tools.

·         Some tribes cut tribal marks on parts of the body of their kids claiming that they want to shed off the dirty blood. Also the instruments used are not changed so they can spread HIV to the kids.

·         Forced marriage can also create problems where someone is forced to be married to certain man or woman who may have unfortunately been infected with one of HIV/AIDS.

Impact of the Negative Aspects of our Customs

Female genital mutilation (women Circumcision) can lead to:-

·         Disturbance of the natural vaginal elasticity during delivery due to the scar left after the mutilation.

·         Reduction of sexual pleasure during sexual intercourse.

·         Spread of sexual transmitted infections (STI‟s) because the instruments used are not sterilized and are used by the whole group being circumcised.

·         Analyze the impact of the negative aspects of our customs

·         Prolonged breeding during and after the mutilation.

·         Death because of excessive bleeding and STI‟s such as HIV/AIDS.

                Gender biases can lead to:

·         Lack of sprint of competition hence poor performance.

·         Few women in managerial and decision making levels.

·         Unequal distribution of powers in a community.

·         Women being left out in areas of development.

              Beliefs and practice of witchcrafts can lead.

·         Transmission of STI‟s especially when male witchdoctors demand to hold sexual intercourse with their clients their clients as a cure for some diseases.

·         Despise modern health services and rely on local herbs some of which do not cure.

               Family conflict.

            Unnecessary deaths, etc.

   Increase of street children.

·         Inheritance of wives (widow) can lead to:

·         Contact of STI‟s including the HIV/AIDS.

·         Conflicts between the inherited wife and the former/original wife of the husband.

 Early manages can lead to:

·         Long difficult labour because of immaturity of the reproductive organs.

·         Sometimes babies are born too early (premature).

 Forced marriages may lead to:

·         Family conflicts

·         Contact of sexually transmitted Infections (STIs).example, HIV AIDS

Bride price can lead to:

·         Violation of human rights to women who are sometimes treated as bought objects.

·         Forced marriages conducted by parents after receiving dowry from the man intending to marry their daughter.

Ways and Actions to be Taken against Negative Aspects of our Socio-Cultural Values

Propose ways and actions to be taken against negative aspects of our socio-cultural values:-

Female genital mutilation (women Circumcision) can lead to:-

·         Prolonged breeding during and after the mutilation.

·         Disturbance of the natural vaginal elasticity during delivery due to the scar left after the mutilation.

 Reduction of sexual pleasure during sexual intercourse.

·         Spread of sexual transmitted infections (STI‟s) because the instruments used are not sterilized and are used by the whole group being circumcised.

·         Death because of excessive bleeding and STI‟s such as HIV/AIDS.

Gender biases can lead to:

·         Unequal distribution of powers in a community.

·         Women being left out in areas of development.

·         Lack of sprint of competition hence poor performance.

·         Few women in managerial and decision making levels.

 Family conflict.

·         Unnecessary deaths, etc.

·         Rapid population increase.

·         Transmission of STI‟s.

 Increase of street children.

·         Inheritance of wives (widow) can lead to:

·         Contact of STI‟s including the HIV/AIDS.

·         Conflicts between the inherited wife and the former/original wife of the husband.

 Early manages can lead to:

·         Long difficult labour because of immaturity of the reproductive organs.

·         Sometimes babies are born too early (premature).

  Forced marriages may lead to:

·         Family conflicts

·         Contact of sexually transmitted Infections (STIs).

 Bride price can lead to:

·         Violation of human rights to women who are sometimes treated as bought objects.

·         Forced marriages conducted by parents after receiving dowry from the man intending to marry their daughter.

WAYS AND ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN AGAINST NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF CULTURAL VALUES.

These ways and actions can be discussed all two levels namely, strategies to liberate the whole society.

 Strategies to liberate women in Tanzania

·         To participation in political matters and other economic activities. To justify this, the government has added more than 15% special seats in parliament for women in order to bring about gender balance and equal control of resources.

·         To make people aware with all things which cause gender inequality? In general, the world is still emphasizing much on women empowerment through different forums and organization which try to defend the rights of people such as human rights.

·         The governments have to ensure that women receive equal opportunities as men in all social, political and economic issues.

·         The government should commit itself to the prohibition of all cultural practices and customs that oppress women like the female genital mutilation, polygamy, forced and early marriage etc.

·         Educating men to put off the idea that they are created superior to women.

·         To establish special programs for improving life standards of women especially in the rural areas.

·         Improve the rural technology. To provide women with modern working facilities ploughs, milling machines.37

·         To inculcate a sense of awareness to all members of society that, women are able people and can do everything like men. Therefore, they have capabilities of thinking and performing like men. This will stop old perceptions of looking women as enabled people.

·         To improve and increase the education opportunities to women. If education opportunities will be improved to women, the development of the country will increase. Also the whole society will be almost educated if we refer to the slogan that says “When you educate women, you educated the whole society” To date, education opportunities to all in Tanzania is positively implementation, since the government has increased the chances for girls and women in education sector. For example, there is a programme of enrolling more women students at the University of Dar es salaam who have been learning science subject when they were at secondary school (Advanced level).

·         To improves access to the resources such as land, the situation which is still difficult to some societies in which women have no right to inherit resources such as land? However, some societies have managed to reduce this problem. For example, in many tribes of Tanzania women have now rights to own property and equal access to natural resources.

  STRATEGIES TO LIBERATE THE ENTIRE SOCIETY

·         To participation in political matters and other economic activities. To justify this, the government has added more than 15% special seats in parliament for women in order to bring about gender balance and equal control of resources.

·         To make people aware with all things which cause gender inequality? In general, the world is still emphasizing much on women empowerment through different forums and organization which try to defend the rights of people such as human rights.

·         The entire society should be enlightened on the bad impacts of the negative aspects of our socio-cultural values.

·         The government should enact strict laws against those who entertain the negative cultural values like the practice of witchcraft, the killing of twins, the handicapped and albinos.38

·         The government should promote and encourage good leadership especially at the village government level, where problem related to the socio-cultural values are mostly experienced.

·         Promotion and Preservation of our Worthy Cultural Values

·         Introduction After their independence, African countries took steps to promote and preserve their culture at national level. Efforts were taken by African governments, churches and communities to reach this goal. Why national culture? This has been so because a national culture is a symbol or identity of a nation. It comprises things such as language, art, science, technology, education, economy, politics, beliefs and values. The values are expressed in songs, dances and ceremonies.

Promotion and preservation of national culture is a combination of efforts made by people under their government to enhance growth and existence of the culture which has to be practiced in the nation. Efforts towards the Promotion and preservation of culture have been going on in Tanzania since 1962. In 1962 the Ministry of National Culture and Youth was formed. The objectives remained unchanged. Cultural promotion has resulted into the following:

·         In 1967 the government introduced Education for Self-reliance policy which used education to transmit African values.

·         Local/ national styles of dressing were officially adopted.

·         Importance of Promoting and Preserving our Worthy Cultural Values

·         Explain the importance of promoting and preserving our worthy cultural values

Importance of promoting and Preserving our national Culture

·         To maintain our cultural heritage.

·         To create a sense of nation hood and promote cohesion in the daily life of Tanzanians

·         To maintain our national identity.

·         To provide a foundation for stable governance.

·         To maintain our useful value and systems of life.

·         To protect our country from cultural colonization through cultural globalization.

·         The Roles of Different Groups and Institutions in Promoting and Preserving our Cultural Values

Assess the roles of different groups and institutions in promoting and preserving our cultural values

The National Kiswahili Council

The National Kiswahili Council was established on August 9, 1967. The council has many roles; for example: -

• Works with other bodies in the country that are devoted to the promotion and preservation of Kiswahili.
• Encourages high standards of Kiswahili and establishes standard Kiswahili for educational and technical purposes.

·         Promotes and develops Kiswahili as a national language. The Council enables Kiswahili to be sued for all national communication. Today, Kiswahili is spoken and understood by almost all Tanzanians. The First President of Tanzania Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere used Kiswahili to unite the whole of Tanzania as a nation.

·         Coins new words from local languages as well as foreign languages to make Kiswahili keep pace with the changes, which keep occurring, in the Tanzanian society.

·         Encourages educated Africans to participate in Kiswahili literature and writing to remove the major weaknesses of colonial education. The latter emphasized foreign languages such as English and French but despised or downplayed Kiswahili and other local languages.

The National Sports Council

The National Sports Council was established in 1967. The roles of this council are:

To develop, promote and control all amateur sports in the country. The Council does this in co-operation with voluntary amateur sports organizations. Amateur sports are sports played for enjoyment, not for monetary gains.

In order to carry out this, the National Sports Council does the following:

• Provides medals, diplomas, certificates, or any other rewards to competent people who deserve them.
• Provides scholarship for the training of coaches and sports administrators. Advises the responsible minister on all matters related to ports.

·         Provides training to staff members.

·         Grants or gives aid to national sports associations or organizations.

·         Provides play fields and other sports facilities.

·         Provides sports equipment and other sports items necessary for international sports competitions and festivals. In so doing, national sportsmen and sportswomen gain experience. The council through sports stimulates and fosters friendly relations with other nations. The Council stimulates interest in all sports at all levels in the nation. And finally, the council plans general policy for the promotion of sports.

The National Festival and State Celebrations Council

The Council facilities celebration of important national occasions. The council ensures that the nation does not engage in meaningless and unending celebrations. The council deals with national public holidays. These national occasions are celebrated with demonstrations, speeches, songs, dances, feasts, sports and games. There are religious holidays as well, which are public holidays but are not under this Council. The holidays include Christmas for the Christians and Idd for the Muslins. Prayers, sports, games, dance and feasts mark these religious holidays.

Department of Museum, Antiquities and National Achieves

These departments preserve the national heritage in the form of cultural treasures and writings. Hence, they strongly stimulate cultural enthusiasm among the people.

Antiquities: are important objects that have existed for a very long time. They include remains of ancient buildings such as mosques, churches, place and tombs. Tanzania is very rich in antiquities, for example, the ruins of old buildings found at , Kilwa and Mtwara – Mikindani. 

 Museums: There are national as well as regional museums in Tanzania. They provide a safe and permanent place for preserving national traditions, customs and works of art. They serve as cultural and recreational centers for the people of the United Republic of Tanzania. They are also important as attractions for visitors or tourists. They serve as educational institutions for current and future generations. The national museums are supposed to be research centers. Information from such centres can be used for educational purposes and in publishing books and pamphlets.

The national Archives: This organ has one main role that is, to censor films before they are shown. To censor a film means to examine it and decide whether it is not effective. This has been very difficult with the introduction of TV stations and videos. Hence the Tanzanian society at large and every person should have moral obligation of seeing that scandalous films are not shown. Films are required to promote national culture, education and development.

Educational institutions

Role of education in Cultural Transmission. After independence, African governments, church and African communities improved the educational system, inherited from colonial masters, to suit African national culture. There were various reasons why the education system African culture. There were various reasons why the education system inherited at independence needed improvement. These are:

 The aims and content of the colonial education promoted the values and intersects of the colonizers.

The colonial education system was intended only to train the Africans for clerical and junior distractive posts.

·         To education system emphasized theoretical leaning. It ignored practical learning hence African students lacked skills and creativity. Therefore, African governments, churches and African communities took various steps to improve education such as the following;

·         To adopt African and Euro-African national languages as the languages of instruction in schools, colleges, and universities. In primary schools and Teachers Colleges , while English is the medium of instruction in the English medium primary schools, all secondary schools ,colleges and universities;

·         To reshape the content of the curriculum to make it more relevant to the needs of the growing African nations. Educational policies were established in most of the African countries so as to:

·         Enable Africans understand their responsibilities in Africa societies;43

·         Design and implement suitable educational programmes , that is, Africans should be able to identify their problems and solve them intelligently;

·         To integrate existing educational facilities;

·         To expand education at primary, secondary, college and university level;

·         Train Africans to get and preserve knowledge, wisdom and experiences;

·         Get the Africans to pass on the knowledge, wisdom and experiences to future generations.

·         Get and teach the best from other educational systems which influence African lives; these are the traditional African systems and the foreign ones; 1. To integrate existing educational facilities;

·         To expand education at primary, secondary, college and university level;

African countries use the radio as a way of transmitting their culture. To date in Tanzania, there are a good number of radio stations which presents programmes with cultural matters.

·         Problems Facing the Promotion of our Cultural Values

·         Illustrate problems facing the promotion of our cultural values

Despite all attempts made by the government to build/promote and preserve national culture, still there are some problems which act as hindrance. These which act as hindrances these factors include the following:

·         Ignorance: A great number of people do not know how to read and write. Thus the people are limited to their environment. They can hardly effectively control their environment.44Hence, they are trapped by the environment which hinders the promotion of their culture and civilization.

·         Bad leadership: Most colonialism hence they have a low standard of leadership. They cannot establish concrete police to promote our cultural values. And even for those who can do so fail to make follow - - ups. In this policies remain on shelves.

·         Lack of enough funds: This issue hinders proper and adequate facilitation to leaders and other people who decided to do research or engage in promoting national culture.

·         Globalization: The growing of social interaction among people of different culture history, the growing of social interaction among people of different culture history, origin and different beliefs has contributed much on hindering the promotion of national culture. An example can be experienced on Tanzania traditional songs and ceremonies like the wedding song burial songs, the mode of these ceremonies the nature of the religions belief system and the like.

·         Colonial legacy: Because of colonial legacy many Tanzanians are not confident in creating things. They are still having the mental attitude of assimilation and association together with the administrative and the education systems. Through all these colonial systems, Africans were forced to inferior.

·         Low level of science and technology: The capacity of production material and morally is doomed in Tanzania because much of technology is brought from abroad i.e. Science and technology dependence.

·         Solution to Problems Arising in the Process of Promoting and Preserving our Cultural Values

Propose solution to problems arising in the process of promoting and preserving our cultural values

Tanzania since independence has been struggling to her level best to promote and preserve the national culture. The following are some of proposed solutions to problems arising in the process of promoting and preserving our cultural values: -

·         Allocate sufficient funds in research development for national culture.

·         Forming youth /peer social sporting and civic groups and organizations to promote our culture.

·         Integrate culture with work.

·         Formulating good policies that promote culture.

·         Reduce excessive dependency on foreign science and technology and instead implement the local technology available.

·         Observing national festivals.

·         To provide educated on the importance of importance of culture.

·         Impose strict laws, rules and regulation for those who despise our culture45

·         Formulating good policies that that promotes culture.

Culture of Preventive Care and Maintenance of Personal and Public Property

It is important to keep the environment and buildings very clean and in good order. In this last part we shall see the progress and importance of up keeping of environment.

Meaning and Importance of Culture of Preventive Care and Maintenance of Personal and Public Property

Explain the meaning and the importance of culture of preventive care and maintenance of personal and public property

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance can be defined as a system of planning maintenance and monitoring social cultural settings in a community, which involves inspection, followed by maintenance and modification which is necessary to make items and properties to use for a longer period.

Causes of Deterioration

The following are the main causes;

·         Disregard of public property,

·         Lack of use of common sense

·         Lack of knowledge,

·         People’s attitudes,

·         Laser faire attitude

The Procedure for Preventive care and Maintenance

People should be aware of their surroundings. Preventive care should be considered under the following:

·         The frequency of checkup and inspection.

·         Regional maintenance that minimizes the costs of up

·         keeping of buildings, furniture and mixtures.46

·         Regular maintenance that creates a conductive environment to users.

·         Institutions or public places should have a time table to ensure preventive care because people need it. Regular care maintenance of existing buildings and facilities, so as to ensure and prolong the life span of buildings and equipment.

Factors for promotion and preservation of National Culture Matters which can promote the growth and existence of culture are:

• African artists like singers, dancers, poets should be assisted in composing and recording.
• Popularization of local culture in mass media using-radio, television, videos, etc. The Tanzania media is doing a good job to promote our culture.

·         National language that should be spoken by the people and used for instruction in schools.

·         Protection of handcrafts industries against foreign goods competition such as importation of unnecessary goods.

·         Commitment of leadership to promotion of national culture i.e. leaders should encourage people to practice the national cultural ways of life.

Analyze the consequences of neglecting timely repair and maintenance

Refer the following consequences;

·         Rampant destruction of private and public properties should not be encouraged officials should maintain them from time to time.

·         Man-made objectives like building, roads, railways and property like books and domestic items need to be repaired immediately when damage occurs or when they wear out. Otherwise they will cost much if they are neglected.

·         Environmental degradation is mostly caused by deforestation, soil erosion, and water and air pollution. Land degradation caused by man should be avoided in order to conserve our environment.

Promotion of Life Skills

Life skills refers to ways in which an individual applies mental ability to control or deal with oneself environment. It involves things like thinking, planning and implementation in order to solve life problems such as social, political, economic and cultural.

In dealing with cultural values and its associated problems, various life skills are highly needed for promoting and preserving culture. Examples of those skills are the skills of knowing and living with oneself, skills of knowing and living with others, and skills of making effective decisions. Social skills like relationship and friendship skills are very important in shaping an individual’s behavior and make one accepted in the community. These skills help an individual to relate well with others and become a responsible citizen.

Any society has establi8sh a foundation for its members to acquire various life skills which would lead them to. This is only possible if culture is integrated with education system, and work in the country. The big role players for promotion and preservation of national cultural values are the government, parents, schools, religion and NGOs.

Life skills education

Education is necessary is order to improve the quality of labour force. Though education, knowledge and skills are obtained to enable one produce more and better quality products. In agriculture for instance, one can produce more and better crop by using knowledge and skills obtained in agricultural lesson. Such knowledge and skills include proper use of fertilize irrigation methods, pest control condition methods, pest control, condition necessary for the growth of crops and weeding.

Education also offers life skills related to employment and income opportunities Technical or vocational training is provided so as to offer such knowledge and skills. People with such knowledge and skills can start their own businesses and in this way gain income.

Through health skills, one learns the different types of diseases and how to prevent them; one learns children care and family management, nutrition health and hygiene. This will improve the health of the learner and the society as a whole. Mother’s knowledge on reproductive health and literacy in general has effects on fertility, infant and child mortality.

In short, life skills education can change an individual and the community to meet personal and national needs. This is because life skills education increases the individual’s ability to be more productive.

Problem Solving

Life skills constitute a knowledge and aptitude that are necessary with maximum efficiency and accuracy. One of the categories of life skills is critical thinking it uses skills such as reasoning inquiry, analysis, processing, flexibility and evaluation.

In problem solving, it is crucial to adhere problem solving techniques because are helpful as follows:

·         They help to tackle problems which seem to be complex.

·         They minimize conflicts, frustration and misunderstandings.

·         They help people to overcome limitations in human mental machinery for perception memory and inference.

·         They overcome constraints and inhibitions that limit the range of ones thinking.

The process of problem components subjected to the type of problem in place. Steps for problem solving process include:

 Definition of problem.

·         Problem analysis endeavor

·         Generating possible solutions

·         Analyzation of the solutions and;

·         Selecting the best solution

·         How to Use Different Life Skills

·         Demonstrate how to use different life skills

In any society there are leaders who lead other people in a given community. These leaders can be measured on how confident and self-worth are they confidence and self-worth may help a leader build good relationship with other community members that result to team work spirit successful leadership trustfulness amongst members in community hence development.

Life skills refers to ways in which an individual applies mental ability to control or deal with oneself environment. It involves things like thinking, planning and implementation in order to solve life problems such as social, political, economic and cultural.

In dealing with cultural values and its associated problems, various life skills are highly needed for promoting and preserving culture. Examples of those skills are the skills of knowing and living with oneself, skills of knowing and living with others, and skills of making effective decisions. Social skills like relationship and friendship skills are very important in shaping an individual’s behavior and make one accepted in the community. These skills help an individual to relate well with others and become a responsible citizen.

Any society has establi8sh a foundation for its members to acquire various life skills which would lead them to. This is only possible if culture is integrated with education system, and work in the country. The big role players for promotion and preservation of national cultural values are the government, parents, schools, religion and NGOs.

Life skills education

Education is necessary is order to improve the quality of labour force. Though education, knowledge and skills are obtained to enable one produce more and better quality products. In agriculture for instance, one can produce more and better crop by using knowledge and skills obtained in agricultural lesson. Such knowledge and skills include proper use of fertilize irrigation methods, pest control condition methods, pest control, condition necessary for the growth of crops and weeding.

Education also offers life skills related to employment and income opportunities Technical or vocational training is provided so as to offer such knowledge and skills. People with such knowledge and skills can start their own businesses and in this way gain income.

Through health skills, one learns the different types of diseases and how to prevent them; one learns children care and family management, nutrition health and hygiene. This will improve the health of the learner and the society as a whole. Mother’s knowledge on reproductive health and literacy in general has effects on fertility, infant and child mortality.

In short, life skills education can change an individual and the community to meet personal and national needs. This is because life skills education increases the individual’s ability to be more productive.

Problem Solving

Life skills constitute a knowledge and aptitude that are necessary with maximum efficiency and accuracy. One of the categories of life skills is critical thinking it uses skills such as reasoning inquiry, analysis, processing, flexibility and evaluation.

In problem solving, it is crucial to adhere problem solving techniques because are helpful as follows:

• They overcome constraints and inhibitions that limit the range of ones thinking.
• They help analysts achieve their full potential. Problems vary from potential. Problems can be those concerns with adolescents, reproductive health, family life issues socio-economic issues or environmental issue steps in production solving process.
•          They help to tackle problems which seem to be complex.
•         They minimize conflicts, frustration and misunderstandings.
•       They help people to overcome limitations in human mental machinery for perception memory and inference.

The process of problem components subjected to the type of problem in place. Steps for problem solving process include: -

• ·         Analyzation of the solutions and;
• ·         Selecting the best solution
• ·         Definition of problem.
• ·         Problem analysis endeavor
• ·         Generating possible solutions

SAMPLE QUESTIONS .

•       Account for the privatization of public enterprises in Tanzania Discuss how the economic and political liberalization has undermined the efforts made by Tanzania in the post to develop national culture
• .       From independence to 198
•       Point out the effects of trade liberalization policies to the majority of Tanzanians
•       Assess the impact of globalization on political and cultural aspects
•        Mention the challenges of globalization in Tanzania and suggest measures to be taken to cope with globalization
•      Define the term globalization
•      Explain briefly the aspects of globalization
•      What are the impacts of globalization in Tanzania?
•     Discuss the effects of globalization to environment
•       Identify the challenges of globalization to Tanzania
•        Suggest possible solutions to the challenges of globalization to Tanzania
•     Discuss the concept of international cooperation
•      What advantages does Tanzania get from the membership in the new East African community
•     Using any sector of your choice, show the impact of SAP in the development of that sector and society at large.

                                                        Written by: Unyoya Abishai
                                                          Contact:    0625511488