The African Diaspora in Africa: Imagination, Politics and Citizenship in the Global South
Giulia Bonacci
Institute of Research for Development, Nice
Since the early 19th century, representatives of the “old” African Diaspora are present and active in many African countries, from Benin to South Africa, and from Ethiopia to Ghana; they are involved in social relations that span from family ties to professional domains. Often drawn to Africa thanks to cultural, religious and political constructs, they face numerous challenges once living in African societies. This presentation will discuss some of the social representations and legal frameworks that determine the experience of “returnees,” in particular in contemporary Ethiopia. It will question as well the processes through which the Diaspora is institutionalized by the state and by the continental organization, the African Union.
Dr. Giulia Bonacci is an historian and a researcher at the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), and she is now posted at the URMIS research unit (Migrations and Society) at the University of Nice in France. Her book Exodus! Heirs and Pioneers, Rastafari Return to Ethiopia (University of the West Indies Press, 2015) has won the IndieFab Book of the Year Award for History (2015) and the Choice Outstanding Academic Title (2017). She publishes regularly her research on post-slavery societies, Pan Africanism, the Rastafari movement, and popular cultures in scholarly titles as well as in the cultural press.