International Handbook of Historical Archaeology

Abstract

African Diaspora refers to the worldwide dispersal of African peoples and their descendants as a consequence of slavery and other migrations out of Africa. The term diaspora, the breaking up and scattering of a people, is often used to describe any dispersion of a people from their original homeland. Diasporas, however, can be distinguished from other types of migrations as they are usually characterized by some or all of the following criteria: (1) forced or induced migration; (2) an enduring presence of the group in new settings as a distinct cultural/ethnic, racial, or religious group; (3) collective consciousness or memory plays a role in the production of cultural heritage; (4) the group experiences some form of alienation in the receiving or host society; (5) the existence of some kind of exchange or relationship between or among spatially separated populations making up the diaspora, and/or with the homeland (Chaliand and Rageau, 1995; Safran, 1991).