Diasporas Within and Without Africa: Dynamism, Hetereogeneity, Variation - Softcover

Manger, Lief; Assal, Munzoul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9171065636 ISBN 13: 9789171065636

Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute, 2006

Synopsis

The book deals with two types of “African diasporas,” the first of which originated in the migration histories of the Indian Ocean and brought new groups into Africa. This is illustrated by case studies of Hadrami communities in Sudan and Zanzibar, and the Malay community in Cape Town, that produced trade links as well as processes of Islamization. The second type originated with the failing African states and cases discussed are an Eritrean diaspora in Germany, alongside Sudanese diasporas in Norway and the USA, and a Somali diaspora in Norway.

The papers deal with processes of homemaking, political mobilization in the diaspora through local organizations, religious networks and cyberspace nationalism. The central conceptual argument is that “diaspora” is not only a post-modern reaction to the xenophobia of Western nation states but must be seen as part of a broader history of human migration and intercultural experience. This calls for a perspective that takes into consideration historically produced variation and dynamism.

About this title

About the Author:

Lief Manger is professor of social anthropology at the University of Bergen. His latest monograph is “From the Mountains to the Plains. The Integration of the Lafofa Nuba in Sudanese Societ” (1994). He has co-edited a book on the Red Sea, “Survival on Meagre Resources. Pastoral Adaptation of the Hadendowa in the Red Sea Hills”(1996) and edited the volume “Muslim Diversity. Local Islam in Global Contexts” (1999).

Munzoul Assal teaches anthropology at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. His recent publications include his published Ph.D-thesis from Bergen, “Sticky Labels or Rich Ambiguties? Diaspora and challenges of homemaking for Somalis and Sudanese in Norway” (2004) and “Darfur; an annotated bibliography of social research” (2006). He is also the co-editor of “Anthropology in the Sudan” (2003).

About this edition

• Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 9171065636
• ISBN 13: 9789171065636
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200