Description
Book SynopsisEngaging the past, the present, and the future, The Workings of Diaspora: Jamaican Maroons and the Claims to Sovereignty shows how the lived experience of Jamaican Maroons is linked to the African Diaspora. In so doing, this interdisciplinary undertaking interrogates the definition of Diaspora but mainly emphasizes the term’s use. Mario Nisbett demonstrates that an examination of Jamaican Maroon communities, particularly their socio-political development, can further highlight the significance of the African Diaspora as an analytical tool. He shows how Jamaican Maroons inform resistance to abjection, a denial of full humanity, through claiming their African origin and developing solidarity and consciousness in order to affirm black humanity. This book establishes that present-day Jamaican Maroons remain relevant and engage the African Diaspora to improve black standing and bolster assertions of sovereignty.
Trade ReviewMario Nisbett provides clear evidence of command of the corpus of texts on the Jamaican Maroons, covering a wide historical span. This study of ‘The Workings of Diaspora’ is a most welcome contribution to African Diasporic discourse and a substantive addition to the body of scholarship on the Jamaican Maroons.
-- Carolyn Cooper, University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Chapter One: Jamaican Maroons: Histories, Politics and Culture
Chapter Two: Black Abjection
Chapter Three: Origin
Chapter Four: Collective Consciousness
Chapter Five: Sovereignty Claims
