Revisiting the Politics of Zanzibar: In Search of the Root Causes of the 1964 Revolution *

Abstract

Under the fragile economic structure, the emergence of the British Protectorate, which was first established in 1890, created the highly differentiated system of racially identifiable economic and social classes in the Zanzibari society. This British colonial policies, which ultimately divided and fragmented the multiracial and cosmopolitan society of Zanzibar, promoted the condition for the non-privileged and inferior classes to form the resistant and counterbalancing forces against the colonial linkages. Within this context, Zanzibar was also politically affected by the ideological influences of Pan-Africanism as well as ethnic nationalisms which were conducive to constructing an evolving, dynamic and flexible politics of Zanzibari (or swahili) society. Focusing on the major two factors such as economic structure and ideological and/or political structure embedded in the Zanzibari society, hence, this article attempts to explore the underlying forces to bring forth the revolution of Zanzibar in 1964.