Trauma in the Tissues of Social Life: Community Experiences after the 2025 Post-Election Violence in Tanzania

Research on political violence often centres on clinical diagnoses such as PTSD, overlooking how communities collectively experience and internalise trauma. Following the 2025 post-election violence in Tanzania, many communities reported persistent fear, mistrust, silence, and emotional disruption long after unrest subsided. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of both direct survivors and neighbouring residents exposed to prolonged uncertainty. Semi-structured interviews with 36 participants from Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Six interconnected themes emerged: anticipation of violence, breakdown of trust, emotional silence, children absorbing fear, political identity as suspicion, and trauma embedded in everyday spaces. These patterns reveal how trauma extended beyond individuals into the collective social fabric. The findings show how political violence can evolve into collective trauma that reshapes social relations, perceptions of safety, and community identity, with implications for psychosocial intervention and reconciliation.