Writing the Black Diasporic City in the Age of Globalization

The Black Diasporic City in the Age of Globalization is a book that explores the city as a generative, "semicircular" social space, where globalization is most profoundly experienced. It offers a complex set of renditions of Black urban citizens' experiences in European and Euro-dominated cities and Global South cities, engaging critical tools of classical postcolonial studies and globalization studies to read works by contemporary writers. It also engages with television series, Canada carnival celebration Caribana, and film series to show how cities are characterized as open, complicated spaces that are constantly shifting, allowing for both haunting and healing and severing or creating new connections.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 195 pages
Publication date: 16 December 2022
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

The Black Diasporic City in the Age of Globalization is a groundbreaking work that theorizes the city as a generative, "semicircular" social space, where the changes of globalization are most profoundly experienced. Through a comprehensive analysis of fictive accounts, the book configures cities as spaces where movement is simultaneously restrictive and liberating, and where life prospects are both promising and daunting. Writers and other creative artists offer a rich tapestry of renditions of the urban experiences of peoples of African descent in European or Euro-dominated cities such as Boston, London, New York, and Toronto, as well as Global South cities such as Accra, Kingston, and Lagos, which emerged out of colonial domination and have become hubs of current globalization.

To explore these themes, the book draws on critical tools from classical postcolonial studies and globalization studies. It examines works by contemporary writers such as Ama Ata Aidoo, Amma Darko, Marlon James, Cecil Foster, Zadie Smith, Michael Thomas, Chika Unigwe, and others. The book also engages with television series like Call the Midwife, the Canada carnival celebration Caribana, and the film series Small Axe to demonstrate how cities are characterized as open, complicated spaces that are constantly shifting.

Cities, as portrayed in these accounts, collapse boundaries, allowing for both haunting and healing. They can sever the connection from kin and community, or create new connections. The Black Diasporic City in the Age of Globalization offers a profound understanding of the complex dynamics that shape urban life in the age of globalization, and its insights will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and policymakers alike.

Weight: 284g
Dimension: 153 x 228 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978829664