Diasporas comprise an inescapable part of the human experience and few are more interesting and diverse than African diasporas. By providing a panoramic view across time and geographical space this collection of essays illustrates the inherent variability of African, European and Asian diasporic formation. Even when such communities share a common origin, diasporas behave like living organisms that respond sensitively to specific geographical locations as well as particular social, political and economic circumstances. Migration constitutes an essential prerequisite for diasporic formation. Once established, diasporas assume a life of their own and sometimes form secondary diasporas and their histories make a significant contribution to comparative societal studies.

Contributors: Jarrett Hugh Brown, Christian Cwik, Yvonne Daniel, Tamara Ganjalyan, Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Ruth Iyob, Winston James, Michele A. Johnson, Franklin W. Knight, Jane Landers, Tommy L. Lott, Quito Swan

Franklin W. Knight is Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Professor of History and Director of the Center for Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland. His publications include Slave Society in Cuba during the Nineteenth Century; The African Dimension of Latin American Societies; UNESCO General History of the Caribbean, volume 3: The Slave Societies of the Caribbean; and, with Teresita Martínez Vergne, Contemporary Caribbean Cultures and Societies in a Global Context.

Ruth Iyob is Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri–St Louis. Her publications include The Eritrean Struggle for Independence: Domination, Resistance, and Nationalism, 1941–1993; with Gilbert Khadiagala, Sudan: The Elusive Quest for Peace; and the co-edited volume, with Edmond J. Keller, Religious Ideas and Institutions: Transitions to Democracy in Africa.