Pan-Africanism, and the Politics of African Citizenship and Identity

This volume seeks to gauge the extent to which Pan-Africanism has penetrated various disciplines, how Pan-Africanism overlaps with the study of the African Diaspora, and why Pan-Africanism is located on the periphery as African Diaspora studies gains momentum. The contributors - coming from various geographical backgrounds and a broad range of academic disciplines - engage with each other to create cross-regional dialogues about the overlaps and intersections between Pan-Africanism, diaspora studies and reverse migrations, providing an analysis of Pan-Africanism and the African Diaspora from political, social and economic perspectives and in a global context.

There is no recent literature that underscores the transition from Pan-Africanism to Diaspora discourse. This book examines the gradual shift and four major transformations in the study of Pan-Africanism. It offers an "academic post-mortem" that seeks to gauge the extent to which Pan-Africanism overlaps with the study of the African Diaspora and reverse migrations; how Diaspora studies has penetrated various disciplines while Pan-Africanism is located on the periphery of the field. The book argues that the gradual shift from Pan-African discourses has created a new pathway for engaging Pan-African ideology from academic and social perspectives. Also, the book raises questions about the recent political waves that have swept across North Africa and their implications to the study of twenty-first century Pan-African solidarity on the African continent. The ways in which African institutions are attracting and mobilizing returnees and Pan-Africanists with incentives as dual-citizenship for diasporans to support reforms in Africa offers a new alternative approach for exploring Pan-African ideology in the twenty-first century. Returnees are also using these incentives to gain economic and cultural advantage. The book will appeal to policy makers, government institutions, research libraries, undergraduate and graduate students, and scholars from many different disciplines.