1st Edition
The Diaspora's Role in Africa Transculturalism, Challenges, and Development
Africans living in the diaspora have a unique position as potential agents of change in helping to address Africa’s political and socioeconomic challenges. In addition to sending financial remittances, their multiple, hybrid identities in and out of geographical and psychocultural spaces allow them to play a role as cultural and political ambassadors to foster social change and sustainable development back in their African homelands. However, this hybrid position is not without challenges, and this book reflects some of the conundrums faced by members of the diaspora as they negotiate their relationships with their home countries.
The author uses her lived experiences and empirical research to ask: are members of the diaspora conduits of Western cultural hegemony at the cost of their traditional preservation and meaningful development in Africa? How does the Western media’s portrayal of Africa as the "Dark Continent" in the 21st century influence their decision-making process to invest back home? How could African nations’ governments manage their relationships with citizens abroad to motivate them to invest in their home countries? How do some citizen-residents in Africa and African Diaspora communities perceive each other in the context of Africa’s development? How could the African Diaspora collaborate with citizen-residents across growth sectors to impact Africa’s development? The book hopes to inspire agents of change within the diaspora and features diverse African entrepreneurs’ success stories and their experiences of tackling these challenges.
The book will be of interest to aspiring entrepreneurs, researchers across African studies, and the expanding and vibrant field of diaspora research.
Introduction; Unit 1 1 Diaspora’s identity "crises": War of the paradigms; 2 The African diaspora, the African Personality, and an African human development paradigm: Exploring their nexus; 3 The African Diaspora Community Cultural Wealth Model (ADCCW): A proposal to leverage the cultural capital of the African diaspora in development; Unit 2 4 Migration postulates: Brain drain, brain gain, brain circulation; 5 An overview of growth sectors and industries in Africa: Part I: Exploring industrialization; 6 An overview of growth sectors and industries in Africa: Part II: Exploring Infrastructure; 7 An overview of growth sectors and industries in Africa: Part III: Exploring the creative and cultural economy; 8 An overview of growth sectors and industries in Africa: Part IV: Exploring leisure and hospitality; Unit 3 9 Managing cultural conundra 101: Cultural shifts, cultural contracts, cultural clash!; 10 The miseducation of the African diaspora by Western media; 11 It’s not just politics … or is it?: Engaging the African diaspora in Africa’s political affairs; 12 Relationship status: "It’s Complicated"—Addressing relational dynamics between the African diaspora and citizen-residents in Africa; Unit 4 13 Relationship-management theory: Harnessing relationships between the African diaspora and key stakeholders to motivate the diaspora to invest in or contribute toward their nations’ development; 14 Guidelines and recommendations to foster African diaspora engagement with their African homelands; 15 A critical road ahead in Africa’s development: Reflexive highlights
Biography
Stella-Monica N. Mpande is an award-winning multifaceted business and media professional, artist, entrepreneur, and critical communications, cultural, and media scholar. Born in English-speaking Uganda, raised in French-speaking Côte d’Ivoire, prior to relocating to the United States, Dr Mpande’s transcultural upbringing influences her works and personal experiences.
Dr Mpande has taught at Howard University, where she earned her PhD, and at Johns Hopkins University as full-time faculty and a program coordinator. Her research in African development, diasporic affairs, diversity and inclusion, communications, and relationship management has been published in several articles and books. Dr Mpande’s versatile professional experiences in broadcast journalism, public relations, global marketing communications and advertising, the performance arts, ethics, and compliance have led to her global career with Fortune 500 companies, as well as international development and multilateral development organizations. Currently, she is an Ethics Officer at the World Bank Group.
