The African Diaspora: Toward an Ethnography of Diasporic Identification

This article offers an analysis of theoretical models developed around the concept of the African Diaspora. These models either concentrate on essential features common to various peoples of African descent or focus on diaspora as a condition of hybridity characterized by displacement and "dispersed identities." The authors, calling for ethnographic attention to processes of diasporic identification, argue for a shift in focus toward analysis of the processes through which individuals identify with one another as "Black" or "African."