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Written by Mason Mattu 

When my plane touched down in Dar es Salaam, a major city in Tanzania, the writings of W.E.B. Du Bois about the global colour line percolated throughout my mind. I wasn’t just there to participate in a field school, but also to hear from those who are continuously marginalized by an unequal economic system. I was there to learn about their lived realities and aspirations for a better future.  

Tanzania, a country with a rich socialist history in its post-independence era, is no stranger to neocolonial forms of capitalism. However, over the course of the field school, I saw a population organizing on the margins so that people could persist through economic insecurity.   

In Dar es Salaam, we were hosted by , a feminist, anti-capitalist cooperative where women workers owned the means of production. Through their simple existence and political education seminars for the community, they were leading the change they wished to see. We also heard from waste pickers and bus drivers who had formed unions. In the case of the latter, they created collective health benefits in response to the privatization of healthcare in the country.  

Oftentimes, it is hard to imagine what a future that prioritizes the 99% over the top 1% looks like—a system where the working-class majority rules. Inequality driven by governments prioritizing corporate interests is intensely embedded into our global system. In Tanzania, this inequality is intensified by the extractivist practices of Global North countries and their development interests. However, what I saw in Tanzania was a glimpse of a future being built from the ground up. Ordinary people refused to accept an unjust status quo and organized to reclaim the future they wanted to live. They resisted in whatever way they could, even with government opposition.  

Through our experiential learning in Dar es Salaam and Arusha, we were able to critically reflect on what role Canada should play in development. Should our development strategy be one that continues to promote the extractivist nature that W.E.B. Du Bois so eloquently critiqued? Or should it be one in which we seek to uplift human lives without any expected repayment? This field school reaffirmed my belief in the latter. To be an engaged global citizen in the 21st century means advocating for our country to do better on the global stage. We must understand what lies underneath state-led rhetoric.  

My independent research  

I viewed this trip as a capstone of my degree. Not because it was during my last semester at SFU, but because it refined my skills and interests that I had been building throughout my degree in International Studies. 

One of the field school courses, IS 497, required students to conduct independent research while in Tanzania. Taking what I had learned throughout my studies from the amazing  Darren Byler, I examined Global China’s presence in Tanzania — or rather the impacts of private Chinese corporations practicing in Tanzania—for my research project. I interviewed workers to learn about their experiences dealing with Chinese entrepreneurs and business owners.  

My research for IS 497 sparked an interest in researching international environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibilities of transnational companies. As I enter law school this fall, what I examined and learned from my research in Tanzania will continue to shape my future career goals.