A Postcolonial Approach to Urban Studies: Interviews, Mental Maps, and Photo Voices on the Urban Farms of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

To examine a postcolonial approach to urban experience is to inquire about how cities and people operate beyond the structures and analytical frameworks that have emerged from Western urban theory. Much of the emerging research in the field is looking for ways to valorize the myriad efforts that residents put forth to live and thrive in the city. Many methodological approaches, however, are still directed by the researcher, who determines the data-collection activities and the guidelines by which they are carried out. Using a case study of urban farmers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this article is an effort to articulate a postcolonial methodology where the research and data collection methods were designed to give voice to the people marginalized by narrow definitions of the city, who are often seen as victims rather than as active agents constructing their own lives. This approach reveals the very real and tangible experiences and relationships that constitute daily life for the urban farmers of Dar es Salaam. Key Words: mental mapping, photo voice, postcolonial methods, Tanzania, urban farming.