Race and class in the politics of Zanzibar

Abstract

One of the most persistent topics in the historiography of Zanzibar is the argument that from the very establishment of the Sultanate of Zanzibar in the nineteenth century through to colonial times and up to the recent past political conflict in the Islands was essentially informed by ethnic divisions, that is the supposedly rigid Arab-African "racial" and "social" divide. The author examines the 1961, 1963 and 1995 elections, showing that the voting behaviour of the electorate cannot be explained in such terms. He argues that only a much more nuanced analysis, taking into account regional and local divisions, would do justice to the complexities of political conflict and civil strife in Zanzibar.