Description
Book SynopsisSince their early beginning in Africa as foragers, hunters and gatherers, humans have been on the move. In modern times, their movements have been compelled by geographical, economic, political, cultural, social and personal reasons. However, beginning in the second-half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century their reasons for and pattern of migration have been largely influenced by globalization. Globalization, by its very nature, cuts across virtually every aspect of the human life and human society. And especially in the United States, African immigrants are subject to the undercurrents of globalization particularly in the areas of culture, religion, interpersonal relationships, and the assimilation and acculturation process. Relying on the vast theoretical and practical experience of academics and public intellectuals across three continents, this book succinctly interrogates some of the pull/push factors of migration, the challenges of globalizing forces, and
Trade ReviewAfter all is said and done, the history of the late 20th and early 21st century cannot be fully understood and accounted for without problematizing and addressing the phenomenon of migration within countries, within continents, and across regions of the world. Migration has been an integral part of human history from time immemorial, but the era of neoliberal globalization has escalated the desire and process to a very high level owing to among other things, the problem of uneven development and institutional capacity. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, the editors and authors of this book provide an elaborate analysis of various theoretical perspectives, contextual and mediating explanatory factors to explain the issue of migration within and out of the African continent. The book greatly educates the reader by being deliberately nuanced in analysis in order to avoid the problem of broad and misleading generalizations that ignore mediating/contextual factors and social and historical specificities. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in having a focused understanding of how Africa fits into the extensive literature on contemporary migration.
-- Samuel Zalanga, Bethel University
This book is an assemblage of ‘disparate voices’ on African migration. The contributors remarkably respond to our search for better understanding of the link between contemporary globalization and the conditions of the global common.
-- Victor Adetula, The Nordic Africa Institute
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Why They Migrate: Empirical Evidence
Leo Bombom and Paul Erhunmwunsee
Chapter 2: The Geography and the Patterns of Migration
Elisha Japer Dung
Chapter 3: Trekking Across the Sahara: A Long History, Troubled Past, and Hopes for the Future
Alecia Hoffman
Chapter 4: Nigerians and the Pursuit of the Golden Fleece
Olayinka Oyegbile
Chapter 5: Impact of Culture on Exiles
Bruce Ormond Grant
Chapter 6: The Children of Immigrants
Sasha Drummond-Lewis
Chapter 7: Relocation from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean: Issues and Challenges Brenda I. Gill
Chapter 8: Xenophobia in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean: Definitions, Theories, and Experiences
Brenda I. Gill and George K. Danns
Chapter 9: The African Immigrant Family in the United States of America: Challenges and Opportunities
Sulayman S. Nyang
Chapter 10: Multifaceted Identity Options: The Case of Two Immigrant Associations in South Africa
Magdaline Mbong Mai
Chapter 11: Building Individual Future as Unwanted African Migrants in Johannesburg: Vulnerability, Hope, and Micro-Entrepreneurship
Christal Oghogho Spel
Chapter 12: Representation, Immigration, Experience, and Memory: A Study of Representational Dynamics of “the Other” in Post Imperial Britain, 1947—1990s
Dollin Wilson Ovaroh-Holt
Chapter 13: African Immigrants and the American Experience
Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
Chapter 14: Nigerians in America: Interpersonal Relationships and the Pull of Globalization
Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
