AFRICA AND ITS DIASPORAS: Rethinking Struggles for Recognition and Empowerment

Description

Building on the UN proclamations on recognition and empowerment of people of African descent, and the renewed interest they have generated in African diaspora scholarship, this volume brings together the perspectives of experts from various disciplines on historical and contemporary challenges faced by peoples of African descendant, their survival strategies and cultural adaptations around the world. The focus on the themes of recognition, empowerment and equity highlights the experiences, struggles and contributions of peoples of African descent throughout the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and within Africa itself. The book explores historical and contemporary struggles against marginalization and demands for inclusion. It examines the extent to which these struggles have fostered recognition and empowerment for African and Afro-diasporic communities in local, regional and global contexts. This is done through the prism of several related topics—slavery and abolition, colonialism and its legacy, racism and discrimination, justice and human rights, education, culture and economic empowerment. By drawing attention to the themes of resilience, recognition and empowerment, the essays in this volume bring new insights to the global study of Africa and its diasporas.

Drawing from diverse sources, this book presents storied accounts of the several manifestations of Black oppression and the long struggles for freedom in the Atlantic world. Framed within the fifteenth-century genesis of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the themes covered include slavocracy, emancipation movement, anti-colonial agitation, a quest for human rights, and women’s empowerment. —Dr.Raphael Chijioke Njoku, Idaho State University

Africa and its Diasporas is an essential interdisciplinary contribution which addresses an impressive array of historical and contemporary issues and approaches. An engaging and thought-provoking work, Africa and its Diasporas adds important insights into our understanding of African diasporas and the struggle for rights, justice, and empowerment. —Dr.John Rankin, East Tennessee State University, Author of Healing the African Body: British Medicine in West Africa 1800-1860

ABOUT THE EDITORS

BEHNAZ MIRZAI is a Professor of Middle Eastern history at Brock University, Canada. She has authored numerous articles on slavery and the African Diaspora in Iran, edited The Baluchi and Baluchistan, co-edited Slavery, Islam and Diaspora, and produced two documentary films (Afro-Iranian Lives and The African-Baluchi Trance Dance). She is the author of A History of Slavery and Emancipation in Iran, 1800–1929.

BONNY IBHAWOH is a Professor of African history and Global Human Rights at McMaster University, Canada. He has taught in universities in Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. He is the author of several books and journal articles on Africa, human rights and imperial history including Imperialism and Human Rights; Imperial Justice: Africans in Empire’s Court; and Human Rights in Africa.

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