Reclaiming Development: Decolonizing Community Practices in Tanzania

Reclaiming Development: Decolonizing Community Development Practices in Tanzania offers a powerful critique of mainstream development paradigms and presents a compelling vision for grassroots, culturally grounded transformation in Africa.
Authored by Christina R. Shimba and Mathias Mkude—respected scholars and practitioners in the fields of gender, sociology, and public policy—this groundbreaking work examines the enduring impact of colonial legacies on Tanzania's development journey and explores how communities can reclaim agency through indigenous knowledge systems, participatory governance, and locally driven policy solutions.
From the legacy of Ujamaa and the philosophy of self-reliance to the politics of language, land, gender, and education, this book charts a bold and intellectually rigorous path forward. Drawing on decades of field experience, original research, and engagement with African thought leaders such as Julius Nyerere, Frantz Fanon, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and Issa Shivji, Reclaiming Development challenges the top-down development model and replaces it with a framework built on sovereignty, inclusion, and sustainability.
Whether you are a scholar, development professional, student, or activist, this book offers essential insights into the future of community development—not as a foreign imposition, but as a people-led movement rooted in justice and dignity.

Christina R. Shimba
Christina R. Shimba is an accomplished academic and leadership development expert, currently pursuing a PhD in Gender Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa. With a solid academic foundation in Sociology and Human Resource Management, she brings over sixteen years of experience in higher education, executive coaching, organizational consultancy, and community empowerment.
Renowned for her interdisciplinary expertise in gender, leadership, and human capital development, Christina's contributions span the realms of academia, corporate development, and grassroots initiatives. Her work is anchored in a commitment to inclusive leadership, mentoring emerging leaders, and advancing gender equity through transformative education and participatory engagement.
She continues to shape discourse and practice through her research, capacity-building initiatives, and leadership training, particularly within African development contexts. Her work reflects a vision for empowering communities to chart their own paths toward justice, equity, and sustainable development.