Abstract

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are based on the Agenda 2030 according to which ‘no one is left behind’, highlighting the need for inclusive citizenship at all levels. This article examines self-help groups in rural Tanzania as potential arenas for inclusive citizenship, which is defined as bottom-up practices of membership, participation, and livelihood enhancement. However, inclusive citizenship is also characterised by exclusions. Therefore, while acknowledging the important contribution of self-help groups for development, this article scrutinises the question of patterns of exclusion, first, in practices of self-help groups, and second, in the relationships between self-help groups and their wider environments. Based on participant observation, individual interviews, and focus groups discussions in three villages in Mpwapwa District in Tanzania, we found exclusions in the process of establishing groups, while participating in the groups, and in relation to the community and the wider socio-economic system. The findings show how less privileged members of a community are easily excluded from the groups based on criteria related to wealth and perceived trustworthiness, and how the improvements in livelihoods, capacities, and collective action remain local, and do not expand to engagement in wider decision-making nor to addressing the root causes of poverty.

摘要

联合国的可持续发展目标 (SDG) 以“不让任何人掉队”的 2030 年议程为基础，强调了各级包容性公民的必要性。本文将坦桑尼亚农村的自助团体视为包容性公民的潜在舞台，这被定义为成员资格、参与和生计改善的自下而上的实践。然而，包容性公民身份也具有排他性的特点。因此，在承认自助团体对发展的重要贡献的同时，本文首先审视了排斥模式的问题，首先是自助团体的实践，其次是自助团体与其更广泛环境之间的关系. 根据参与者观察、个别访谈，在坦桑尼亚 Mpwapwa 区的三个村庄和焦点小组讨论中，我们发现在建立小组的过程中，在参与小组的过程中，以及与社区和更广泛的社会经济系统相关的排斥。调查结果表明，根据与财富和感知可信度相关的标准，社区中特权较低的成员如何很容易被排除在群体之外，以及生计、能力和集体行动的改善如何保持局部性，而不会扩大到参与更广泛的决策- 解决贫困的根本原因。