Being Ithna Asheri: Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Girls, the International School of Tanganyika and Segregation in Postcolonial Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

This study examines segregation in postcolonial Dar es Salaam through the lens of girlhood by focusing on Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri (Ithna Asheri) women's experiences of being students at the city's most diverse and prestigious school, the International School of Tanganyika (IST), from the 1980s to the early 2000s. The study argues that longstanding and evolving racial, class and inter-Asian segregation entrenched religious-based gender segregation for Ithna Asheri girls. The entanglement of continuing colonial-era racial and ethnic segregation, the post-independence state's anti-segregationist socialist policies and the Ithna Asheri community's endorsement of Islamic purdah in the 1980s yielded an Ithna Asheri girlhood respectability that was gender-segregationist, restricting Ithna Asheri girls’ social autonomy. The study also contends that the manifestation of purdah was powerful but not hegemonic. IST Ithna Asheri girls pushed against segregationist boundaries to pursue undertakings they aspired to, as well as practice Ithna Asherism according to their preferences. IST Ithna Asheri girls’ actions impacted Ithna Asheri girlhood respectability and forged greater gender, racial, ethnic and class integration.