The Workings of Diaspora: Jamaican Maroons and the Claims to Sovereignty
By (Author) Mario Nisbett
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Lexington Books
4th November 2021
United States
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Slavery and abolition of slavery
305.89607292
Hardback
166
Width 160mm, Height 228mm, Spine 19mm
485g
Engaging the past, the present, and the future, African Sovereigns shows how the lived experience of Jamaican Maroons is linked to the African Diaspora. In so doing, this interdisciplinary undertaking interrogates the definition of Diaspora but mainly emphasizes the terms use. Mario Nisbett demonstrates that an examination of Jamaican Maroon communities, particularly their socio-political development, can further highlight the significance of the African Diaspora as an analytical tool. He shows how Jamaican Maroons inform resistance to abjection, a denial of full humanity, through claiming their African origin and developing solidarity and consciousness in order to affirm black humanity. The book establishes that present-day Jamaican Maroons remain relevant and engage the African Diaspora to improve black standing and bolster assertions of sovereignty.
Mario Nisbett provides clear evidence of command of the corpus of texts on the Jamaican Maroons, covering a wide historical span. This study of 'The Workings of Diaspora' is a most welcome contribution to African Diasporic discourse and a substantive addition to the body of scholarship on the Jamaican Maroons.
--Carolyn Cooper, University of the West Indies at Mona, JamaicaMario O. Nisbett is lecturer in the history and politics section of the Centre for African and International Studies at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.