ABSTRACT This paper examines how both rhetoric about custom and practices drawing on elements of deep-rooted political culture remain relevant in post-colonial Tanzania. This is the case despite the Tanzanian government’s aggressively modernising stance and the erasure of colonial-era ‘traditional’ chiefs after independence. The paper identifies three patterns. Firstly, witchcraft cleansing remains a rare flashpoint over which rural people are willing to defy officials, amid legislation that has barely moved on from the colonial period. Secondly, for defenders of certain practices, describing them as customary is a way to try to place them beyond criticism, while for officials it becomes a way to wash their hands of the attendant problems. Lastly, a performative political practice can be discerned in the interactions between rural populations, officials and development experts that resonate with descriptions of pre-colonial political encounters. By looking for local legitimacy in interactions with so-called elders, development experts have become arbiters of (pseudo-)traditional authority despite their modernising identity. These observations show that discourses about and practices drawing on the customary have become deeply imbricated with the political practices of the rural state.

中文翻译：

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在后殖民地坦桑尼亚的政治中定位“习惯”：农村国家不断变化的作风手法

摘要本文探讨了在后殖民时期坦桑尼亚，关于习俗的言辞和借鉴根深蒂固的政治文化因素的习俗如何仍然具有相关性。尽管坦桑尼亚政府采取了激进的现代化姿态，并且在独立后取消了殖民时代的“传统”酋长，但情况仍然如此。本文确定了三种模式。首先，在殖民地时期几乎没有采取行动的立法中，巫术清洗仍然是一个罕见的闪点，农村人民愿意对之进行反抗。其次，对于某些习惯的捍卫者，将其描述为习惯是一种使他们不受批评的方法，而对于官员而言，则成为一种解决相关问题的方法。最后，在农村人口之间的互动中可以辨别表演性政治实践，官员和发展专家对前殖民政治冲突的描述产生了共鸣。通过与所谓的长者互动，寻找当地的合法性，尽管发展专家具有现代化的身份，但他们已成为（伪）传统权威的仲裁者。这些观察表明，关于习俗的论述和实践已与乡村国家的政治实践紧密地联系在一起。