UDSM Professor Emeritus Issa G. Shivji becomes the British Academy Fellow

By Dotto Kuhenga, Communication and Information Office,

The University of Dar es Salaam  Professor Emeritus Issa Gulamhussein Shivji has been appointed one of the corresponding fellows, in the Law section, of the prestigious British Academy beginning July, 2022.

The news of the appointment in the British Academy website lists Prof. Shivji alongside other fellows for the year 2022 who are elected, according to the Academy statement, because they have “attained distinction in any of the branches of study which is the object of the Academy to promote – the humanities and the social sciences”.  

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences, and mobilizes these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future. It also provides knowledge, expert insight and space to explore the context, meaning and practicalities of the challenges facing society today.​

Each year, the Academy elects to its fellowship up to 52 outstanding UK-based scholars who have achieved distinction in any branch of the humanities and social sciences. Others based overseas can also be elected as Corresponding Fellows, and, in addition, the Academy can elect Honorary Fellows.

“Election is a mark of distinction, as only a very small number of scholars in any field are elected. Up to 52 elections are made in each year to the fellowship. There are now over 1,400 Fellows”, the Academy information states.

Prof. Shivji areas of focus in this regard will be based largely in public law and its socio-economic and historical context; critical political economy of the agrarian question in Africa; and thought and politics of Julius Kambarage Nyerere as Tanzania’s independence leader and first president.

Prof. Shivji is a prominent UDSM law guru, and former Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Professorial Chair at UDSM and Distinguished Lecturer in Pan-African Studies and co-author of the recent book  of the First President of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, a three-volume work, titled ‘Development as Rebellion: Julius Nyerere, a Biography’. 

Prof. Shivji joins the academy’s law section whose chair is another Fellow, Professor Dame Sarah Worthington, who is the Downing Professor of the Laws of England, Trinity College, University of Cambridge.

Among the British Academy’s core functions is to invest in research in which it provides funding to support UK and international academic research, career development and wider engagement across the humanities and social sciences.

It also promotes ideas and achievements in the humanities and social sciences through events, talks, videos, podcasts and annual Summer Showcase.

Congratulations Professor Emeritus Issa Shivji!