The African Diaspora in Canada: Negotiating Identity and Belonging

A study of the complications, complexities, and political contestations of African-Canadian identity as it is lived and defined by Continental African immigrants to Canada.

What does it mean to be African-Canadian?

The African Diaspora in Canada addresses the conceptual difficulties and political contestations surrounding the term “African-Canadian.” In the midst of this fraught terrain, it focuses on first-generation, black continental Africans who have immigrated in the past four decades. In highlighting their experiences, this book addresses the empirical, conceptual, and methodological gaps that homogenize all black people and their experiences.

Rooted in the specific experiences of continental Africans in Canada, this book examines the social constructions of African-Canadians, their experiences within the political and education systems, and with the labour market. It explores the forms of cooperation and tension that characterize African-Canadian communities, and how multiple transnational spaces are negotiated and occupied. The book also explores the circumstances of children, as they try to define their identities vis-à-vis their parents and the larger Canadian society.

With Contributions By:  Ali A. Abdi, Henry M. Codjoe, George S. Dei, John E. Jayfron. Martha K. Kumsa, Samuel A. Laryea,  Philomina Okeke-Ihejirika, Kobla P. Puplampu, Denise L. Spitzer. Wisdom J. Tetty, and Adenike O. Yesufu 

About the Editors:

Wisdom J. Tettey is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary. His research includes the state and public policy in Africa, mass media and democratic transitions, race, ethnicity and citizenship, and diaspora politics. 

Korbla P. Puplampu is Chair of the Department of Sociology at Grant MacEwan University. His research includes theoretical and policy analysis of state and non-state institutions in social change and identity politics in multicultural societies. 

List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Note on Contributors

Section I: Theorizing and Historicizing the "African Canadian" Experience

Continental Africans in Canada: Exploring a Neglected Dimension of the African-Canadian Experience
Wisdom J. Tettey and Korbla P. Puplampu

Ethnicity and the Identity of African-Canadians: A Theoretical and Political Analysis
Korbla P. Puplampu and Wisdom J. Tetty

Reflections on the Long Struggle for Inclusion: The Experience of Peoples of African Origin
Ali A. Abdi

Section II: Location, the Politics of Knowledge Construction and the Canadian Educational System

Afrca(ns) in the Canadian Educational System: An Analysis of Positionality and Knowledge Construction
Henry M. Codjoe

Racism in Canadian Contexts: Exploring Public and Private issues in the Educational System
George S. Dei

Section III: The Socio-Economic Context and Contests of the African-Canadian Experience

African Immigrants and the Labour Market: Exploring Career Opportunities, Earning Differentials and Job Satisfaction
Samuel A Laryea and John E. Hayfron

The Gender Dimensions of the Immigrant Experience: The Case of African-Canadian Women in Edmonton
Adenike O. Yesufu

Section IV: Place, "In-Between" Spaces, and the Negotiation of Identities

Border Crossings and Home-Diaspora Linkages Among African-Canadians: An Analysis of Translocational Positionality, Cultural Remittance, and Social Capital
Wisdom J. Tetty and Korbla P. Puplampu

Between Home and Exile: The Dynamics of Negotiating Be-Longing Amount Oromos Living in Toronto
Martha K. Kumsa

In Search of Identity: Intergenerational Experiences of African Youth in a Canadian Context
Philomina Okeke-Ihejirika and Denise L. Spizer

Index

A highly commendable effort. 

—Ato Qyatson, University of Toronto Quarterly 

[A] nuanced and sophisticated approach to understanding identity.

—Scott Neigh, A Canadian Lefty in Occupied Land