African Underclass

Andrew Burton is an honorary research asso­ciate of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, currently based in Addis Ababa. His publications include African Underclass: Urbanisation, Crime & Colonial Order in Dar es Salaam and the coedited volume Dar es Salaam: Histories from an Emerging African Metropolis.

"Anyone seeking to understand the colonial roots of urban and national problems in, at the least, Anglophonic Africa, should read this book." (The Historian) "African Underclass examines the social, political, and administrative repercussions of rapid urbanization in colonial Dar es Salaam and the evolution of official policy that viewed urbanization as inextricably linked with social disorder. This policy marginalized young Africans entering the town-and thus, paradoxically, the policy itself subverted the colonial order. Well researched and sharply written-one of the best and most stimulating accounts of urbanization in Eastern Africa to have been produced in recent years." "Burton's book is a masterful survey of the development of Dar es Salaam's underworld....this volume will cement his influence." (American Historical Review)