Paper short abstract:

Taken for a ride analyses the journey from nationalized public transport to its privatization and progressive deregulation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It argues that understanding the outcomes of the reform and its politics requires putting its precarious workers at the centre of the analysis.

Paper long abstract:

The growth of cities, and informal economies within them, are two central manifestations of globalization in the developing world. Their study is central to development studies. Taken for a ride contributes to our understanding of both, through an interdisciplinary study of public transport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city, from 1970 to 2015. Drawing on careful fieldwork over an extended period, the book analyses the journey from nationalized public service to neoliberalism, privatization and progressive deregulation. Taken for a ride argues that understanding the outcomes of the reform of public transport in Dar es Salaam requires putting its informal and precarious workers at the centre of the analysis. The political attitude of these workers changed from political quiescence and the lack of an organisation representing their interests up until the mid1990s, to their political organisation, in the late 1990s. Taken for a ride analyses workers' strategy, and their partial achievements in claiming rights at work from employers in Dar es Salaam, as entry point to engage critically with the influential view that, due to widespread informalisation, trade unionism and workplace labourism are no longer a viable option for defending workers' interests. Taken for a ride advocates instead that reflections on the possibilities for action by precarious workers today requires attention to ongoing labour struggles, and a grounded understanding of the source of workers' power and vulnerability, their relationship to capital, and workers' place within their economic and political context.