The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race and Belonging

ISBN-13: 9783031387968 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023

Opis

This book explores how questions about home and belonging have been framed in the discourses on race, migration, and social relationships. It does this with the aim of envisioning alternative modes of living and reimagining our political communities in ways that question the legacy of colonization and constructed identities which detract from our sense of obligation to each other and the planet. The book questions problematic categories of difference to transform human relations beyond the materialism of our global political economy. Questions addressed in the volume include: In what ways are combative colonial identities of difference manufactured within our national and global spaces of encounter? How can we expel the racialized and tribalized political identities that seek to purify and deny the complexities and sacredness of being human? How do we embrace the notion that everyone we encounter is a mirror reflecting our fears of suffering and our desires for happiness?

The book is set in the context of re-emerging ultra-nationalists and anti-migrant politicians on the national and international stage, advancing various strands of extreme-right and protectionist ideology couched as redemptive-welfarist strategies. The adverse impacts of these strategies seem to be reifying a possessive idea of citizenship and identity, engendering a national fantasy that portrays communities as homogenous entities inhabiting enclosed borders. This is essentially a compendium of conversations across the intersection of the racial, national, ethnic, spiritual, and sexual boundaries in which we live.

Spis treści

1. The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race, and Belonging - Benjamin Maiangwa

Part I. Part I Identity, Coloniality, and Home

2. Can We Forgo Our Attachments to Socially Constructed Identities? - Sabena Singh

3. On Names, Labels, and Colonial Amnesia - Christiane Ndedi Essombe

4. The Unresolved Crisis of Belonging in African Literature: A Reflection - Chigbo Arthur Anyaduba

5. Being and Becoming “African” in the Postcolony - Benjamin Maiangwa and Christiane Ndedi Essombe

Part II Diaspora, Race, and Immigration

6. Notes on the Nervous Condition of Black and African Immigrants in Canada - Ademola Adesola

7. The Geo-cultural Politics of Space and the Poetics of Race - Dominic James Aboi

8. Exiting Whiteness and Patriarchy: Embracing Oneness, Breaking Free of Incarcerating Ideologies, and Enabling Pathways to Belonging - Chuck Egerton

Part III Belonging: Cross-cutting Issues

9. Migrant Women’s (Non)Belonging in Pandemic Times: An Intersectional Analysis of Home/Land - Anoosh Soltani and Holly Thorpe

10. How Social Enterprise Can Facilitate the Inclusion of Highly Skilled Newcomers to Canada - Ireoluwatomi Oloke

11. Racialized Skilled Immigrants in the Canadian Labour Market - Alka Kumar

12. On Blackness and Related Subjects: Concluding Conversation - Ademola Adesola, Adey Mohamed, Christiane Ndedi Essombe, and Benjamin Maiangwa

Spider Web and Dew Drops - Laure Paquette

O autorze

Benjamin Maiangwa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Prior to joining Lakehead University, he was Teaching Fellow in International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies in the School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA), Durham University, UK. He was also instructor at the University of Manitoba and the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology (MITT). Maiangwa's research focuses broadly on the intersection of politics, culture, and society. His publications and outreach activities use storytelling, action research, and critical ethnography to explore notions of contested belonging, home, mobility, and people's experiences of conflict and peace. 

Blurb

This book explores how questions about home and belonging have been framed in the discourses on race, migration, and social relationships. It does this with the aim of envisioning alternative modes of living and reimagining our political communities in ways that question the legacy of colonization and constructed identities which detract from our sense of obligation to each other and the planet. The book questions problematic categories of difference to transform human relations beyond the materialism of our global political economy. Questions addressed in the volume include: In what ways are combative colonial identities of difference manufactured within our national and global spaces of encounter? How can we expel the racialized and tribalized political identities that seek to purify and deny the complexities and sacredness of being human? How do we embrace the notion that everyone we encounter is a mirror reflecting our fears of suffering and our desires for happiness?

The book is set in the context of re-emerging ultra-nationalists and anti-migrant politicians on the national and international stage, advancing various strands of extreme-right and protectionist ideology couched as redemptive-welfarist strategies. The adverse impacts of these strategies seem to be reifying a possessive idea of citizenship and identity, engendering a national fantasy that portrays communities as homogenous entities inhabiting enclosed borders. This is essentially a compendium of conversations across the intersection of the racial, national, ethnic, spiritual, and sexual boundaries in which we live.

Benjamin Maiangwa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Prior to joining Lakehead University, he was Teaching Fellow in International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies in the School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA), Durham University, UK. He was also instructor at the University of Manitoba and the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology (MITT). Maiangwa's research focuses broadly on the intersection of politics, culture, and society. His publications and outreach activities use storytelling, action research, and critical ethnography to explore notions of contested belonging, home, mobility, and people's experiences of conflict and peace.