INTRODUCTION
    This issue of UTAF1TI is dedicated to the International Year of
the Child. Three of the articles are exclusively devoted to issues on
children. Perhaps it does not need stressing that children in our
society are the most helpless members in a lot of ways. Not only are
they not able to defend themselves against any adverse influences,
they are at the same time und*»r direct control of adults who can do
almost anything with/to/for them as and when it suits them. In some
cas<°s children's value has been measured in purely economic terms.
The first article in this issue by B. Swai on The Labour Shortage in
1930*^ Kilimanjaro and the Subsequent Employment of Child Labour bears
this out. The paper shows the relationship between what happened in the
caseof *Kilimanjafo in the 1930's when coffee plantation farming was
introduced with what is happening now, especially in the urban centres
where children form a substantial part of the labour force. Children
under the age of thirteen selling groundnuts and fruit in Dar es Salaam
streets is a common enough sight even for the casual observer, and
does not need emphasising. Swai's paper traces the roots of this situation
to the socio-economic conditions that obtain in a society at a particular
time and argues that problems of child labour can not be solved in
isolation but must form part of a conscious effort to change the conditions
which gave rise to them.
     F. Mlama's paper: "Some problems of Child--Rearing in Tanzania",
 discusses the history of * child-UD- cringing practices in Tanzania, ^uia
how these have changed with the historical changes th#t the country has
undergone. It thus looks at the pre-colonial societies where child up-
 bringing was a collective responsibility of the* society. It then, goes on
 to show hpw this pattern changed with urbanization and individualization of
 society through colonial days to the present. She concludes that the
 breakdown of that collective child-up-bringing is at the root of the social
problems that face the children and it has also laid unnecessary burden
 on\the biological parents. The paper then poses a question as to whether
there is anything that can be done to restorathis collective-responsibility,
 aven though it will not be in its original form. But here also the author
notes that no substantial changes can be made to the existing situation
 without altering the socio-economic conditions in the society at large.
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     The same Issue is taken up again in* the third article by J. Kikopa on:
'IThe Child and the Law". Thus throughout the paper J. Kikopa argues
that "Law alone cannot provide the basic requirements of the child
without the involvement of the whole society". "The law forms only the
legal iramework upon which particular things for children can be realised".
The paper broadens the issue by arguing that for law to be effective it
has to protect children from the time of conception to birth and there-
after. In this connection it is necessary that emphasis be placed on the
health of the mother as much as on that of the foetus. This is very
important and haa to "je stressed. So many times the issues of children1 s ;
welfare are treated as if they can be separable from the welfare of the
people who ^re most directly involved in the "production" of children
 and their up-bringing. An oppressed and unhappy mother can not
provide a healthy atmosphere for the growing child. An unhappy mother can-
not raise up happy children. AM thia, in addition to the economic position
of families, means that in the final analysis, the well-being of children
is inseparable from the issues of women's status in society. For in our
 society, as in many others, children are the direct responsibility of the
women members and a change in their status and welfare for better or
worse affects that of the children of that particular society. This issue
 came up very strongly at the workshop of Women's Studies and Develop-
ment held at the University of Dares Salaam in September 1979 (see
our Utafiti Notes in this issue). The research findings presented at
that workshop on the problems of women and consequently the children in
Tanzania to-day has a very gloomy reading. The symposium on Early
Childhood and Education at the University of Dar es Salaam from 17th -
 22nd December, 1979 (see our Utafiti Notes) dealt with similar issues.
     Moving away from the 1YC, there are other important issues, which
though not new, still occupy our minds and call for continued attention.
One such issue is that on the Liberation Struggles in Southern Africa*
It seems as things stand, this will be a burning issue in Africa for a
long time to come. The two articles that follow are a contribution to
the continuing struggle in Southern Africa. Thus R.S . Mukandala
looks at the role of "Students and Revolution in Southern Africa".
He argues that although students' demonstrations do have importance
 to the struggle for liberation, they cannot be a crucial factor. These
 demonstrations, to be effective have to be deliberately connected to the
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str:uggleof the working class because "the working class struggle i, a
perntan.en.t one, their target, the entire mode of production as their '.
8ri~.nces      can only be resolved with a complete ov~rthrow of the
extsting so~iall't.rrangement       and thus organizationally, they a.pire          to
includ~       the oppressed      classes  and sections in the mOdeo!producUon".
1n contrast to. the working class "the student body is a soctal c4telOl'Y
cOD1tX'Sed   of elements from various classes in societyll tlndtherefore
their struggles    are "Sporadic,       more often than not directed at specific
sodal-Uls".      For all these reasons', Mukandala concludes that: "Contrary
to the commonly held views,          the Soweto revolt vas not a purely student
affair", and it became effective bec«U.se"the working class played a
very key role in the movement".
    H.P. Moshrlooks         closely at the involvement of Westenler
Western spQnsored Multinational           Corporations in Sonthdtfrica, and
their relationship     to the policy of apartheid on the.one hand, and tOr              ."
the issue of U. N. sanctions on the. other. He. argues very convincingly
withfacts and figures that the Western committmentto investment-in
South Africa is too important for theni to be abie to obseJ;'Veany type,
of sanctions.     But in order to escape blame, the Gov~~:Q!~.e;,
coun't:ri\ls. in particular     Britain and the U. S •A. work '¥noer '1()Verof
their Multinational Corporations.          While...thesefa~ts liI'f2: ,clear to people
in the Frontliile\states      and their friends, the depth of~alysis           and
the figures thai Mflshi gives throws a lot of light on the.iuue and,
clearly shows the rilagnitude of the problem. Thus he deld_.Atlength
onthe ~ationship         between the tmOUIltof capital inv,estedtlII.dthe
profits ear'~ed against a background of cheap Afric8li labour force.
"In 1975 - blacks employed in minfug-i 1D1IIlufacturing         and c:ons'l:r1.l<:ti~  '
mdustries were receivinA .11...1, 20.2,. ad, 20, respectively u a per-
c,entageof white wages".         The MNC are the biggest :inv~stors131          these
innustr1es •
                                                                   ,         ,
    The next artiCle on: Resistance         and collaboration or the Stl-uggle
an.duni-tlTof opposites:       The Dilemma of the Comprador Class at SANCUL
 179:>-1850, takes a fresh look at the question of vho is a hero or               tl.
traitor in a Liberation       Struggle.   Mbwiliza argues that collaboration
with or resistance       to a dominating foreign pover depends on the cs:m:mtions
that exist at that particular       time in history. Thus in one p.evi6dpeople
will collaborate     if it suits  them and the s~e people in         d different
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    period will resist if their interests are threatened. He argu'2'S convincmgl       y.
  .by using the example of SANCUL that African historians have ~rred in
    "discussing   African response to colonial conquest and domination" by
    arguing that. "collaborators     stood on the opposite extreme of resisters".
   He continues to say that because of this view point during the "euphoria
   for independence ••• resistance       came to be linked with nationalism        and
   collaboration    with treason,    a betrayal of African dignity and independence".
   Mbwiliza argues that it might be possible to reverse           the equation to the
   extent that "we seek national heroes not in the leaders           of the resistance
   movements but also from among the collaborators            as well.   But fur this
   to be done, negative connotations about collaboration           will have tu be
   erased and this implicitly means a reinterpretation          of the whole equation
   of African respop.se to colonial domination".        Through the example of
   Sancul, he believes      that reinterpretation   can be done.
       The "last article in this issue by P. Gibbon on Imperialism           and
  the National Question: Some errors          and some theses,     tries  to give
  a Marxist point of view of this question.        Although there have been
  analyses 0l!- the national question,      "most of them have been wrong"
 thus giving way to the opponents of Marxism to regard              this as a
 failure of historical     materialism.    He argues that although the national
 question is a diffiault one, "there is a clear        - though not necesarily
 simple - Marxist view of the national question and its relation             to
 imperialism,     one moreover which is entirely       applicable to-day in the
 third worlEl". For those of our readers          who have been following the
 debate on Marxist interpretations         at the Hill in our previous     issues,
Gibbon's contribution should be a refreshing           addition to that debate,
which is still orr'-going.
      With all these articles,     plus the several   book-reviews,      we hope we
have managed to preserve         the Interdisciplinary    nature of our Journal,
and we look forward to continued readership            and contribution      from
you all.
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