The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race and Belonging (Politics of Citizenship and Migration)

This book explores how questions about home and belonging have been framed in the discourses on race, migration, and social relationships. It does this with the aim of envisioning alternative modes of living and reimagining our political communities in ways that question the legacy of colonization and constructed identities which detract from our sense of obligation to each other and the planet. The book questions problematic categories of difference to transform human relations beyond the materialism of our global political economy. Questions addressed in the volume include: In what ways are combative colonial identities of difference manufactured within our national and global spaces of encounter? How can we expel the racialized and tribalized political identities that seek to purify and deny the complexities and sacredness of being human? How do we embrace the notion that everyone we encounter is a mirror reflecting our fears of suffering and our desires for happiness? The book is set in the context of re-emerging ultra-nationalists and anti-migrant politicians on the national and international stage, advancing various strands of extreme-right and protectionist ideology couched as redemptive-welfarist strategies. The adverse impacts of these strategies seem to be reifying a possessive idea of citizenship and identity, engendering a national fantasy that portrays communities as homogenous entities inhabiting enclosed borders. This is essentially a compendium of conversations across the intersection of the racial, national, ethnic, spiritual, and sexual boundaries in which we live. Prologue 6 Acknowledgements 7 Praise for The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race and Belonging 8 Contents 9 Notes on Contributors 11 Chapter 1: The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race, and Belonging 16 Introduction 16 The Crisis of Identity: Race, Belonging, and Citizenship 22 Probing Questions and the Objective of the Volume 26 Methodology 27 Contribution of the Volume 28 Book Structure 29 References 32 Part I: Identity, Coloniality and Home 35 Chapter 2: Can We Forgo Our Attachments to Socially Constructed Identities? 36 Introduction 36 Identity and Conflict: A Theoretical Insight 37 What Is Identity Conflict? 38 Intersectionality and the Ethos of Vulnerability 43 Intersectionality 44 Ethos of Vulnerability 46 Inner Peace 48 Changing Perception 49 Detaching from Our Socialized Identities 50 Conclusion 52 References 54 Chapter 3: On Names, Labels, and Colonial Amnesia 57 Introduction 57 What Is in a Name? 59 The A-word 62 Inventing “Africa” 66 What If People of African Descent Named Themselves? 69 References 71 Chapter 4: The Unresolved Crisis of Belonging in African Literature: A Reflection 75 I 75 II 79 III 84 References 89 Chapter 5: Being and Becoming “African” in the Postcolony 91 Introduction 91 Being and Becoming African: The Precontact Stage 95 The Gender Question 95 The Ethno-territorial Question 98 The Confessional Question 99 The Race Question 101 The Nervousness of Becoming “African”: The European Stage 104 The “Postcolonial” Condition 110 Conclusion 113 References 114 Part II: Diaspora, Race, and Immigration 120 Chapter 6: Notes on the Nervous Condition of Black and African Immigrants in Canada 121 Introduction 121 Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees 123 What Does Experience Show? 124 Concluding Thoughts 135 References 136 Chapter 7: The Geo-cultural Politics of Space and the Poetics of Race 138 Introduction 138 Formation of a Migrant Consciousness 140 Colonialism and the Creation of the Diaspora 143 The Capitalist Implications of Colonial Boundaries on Migrants 147 The Colonial Roots of Forced Migration and Power Dynamics 150 Of Western Sensibilities and the Politics of Denial 153 Politics of Space and Its Interface with the Poetics of Race 154 Conclusion 156 References 157 Chapter 8: Exiting Whiteness and Patriarchy: Embracing Oneness, Breaking Free of Incarcerating Ideologies, and Enabling Pathways to Belonging 161 Introduction and Forethoughts 161 What I Have Learned About Myself 162 Changing Clothes 167 A Metaphor 169 Metabolizing Trauma 170 The Relationship Between Patriarchy and Whiteness 171 How Does DuBois’s Metaphor of the Incarcerating “Veil” Apply to All Humanity? 172 The White Gaze, Double Consciousness, and Tragic Duality 174 No One Is White, a Historic Paradox 176 Conclusion: Treason to Whiteness and Patriarchy Is Loyalty to Humanity 177 References 179 Part III: Belonging: Cross-cutting Issues 183 Chapter 9: Migrant Women’s (Non)Belonging in Pandemic Times: An Intersectional Analysis of Home/Land 184 Introduction 184 Insights from the Literature 185 Belonging and Non-belonging Among Migrants 186 Theorising Belonging 187 Context and Methodology 189 Findings and Discussion 191 Transnational Belonging, Emotions, and Border Closure 191 Multiplicities of Belonging 195 Othering and (Non)Belonging 198 Conclusion 201 References 202 Chapter 10: How Social Enterprise Can Facilitate the Inclusion of Highly Skilled Newcomers to Canada 206 Introduction 206 Newcomers’ Experiences of Socio-economic Marginalization in Canada 208 Strong Sense of Belonging Among Newcomers Despite Poor Socio-economic Outcomes 213 The Social Enterprise Model 215 Social Enterprises and the Inclusion of Highly Skilled Newcomers 219 Conclusion 223 References 225 Chapter 11: Racialized Skilled Immigrants in the Canadian Labour Market 229 Introduction 229 Context 230 Methodology 233 Personal Reflections: Storytelling and Autoethnography 234 Searching for Solutions: Looking Through an Interdisciplinary Lens 237 Relevance of PACS Approaches in Migration Studies 239 Unit of Analysis 240 Relationships and Grassroots Peacebuilding 241 Negative and Positive Peace, and Structural Conflicts 242 Basic Human Needs Theory 244 Multi-track Diplomacy for Conflict Transformation 245 References 246 Chapter 12: On Blackness and Related Subjects: Concluding Conversation 250 Setting the Tone 250 The Question of Blackness 254 References 269 Spider Web and Dew Drops 270 Index 274