Development and the African Diaspora

Ben Page is a lecturer at UCL. Much of his work has focused on water supply in West Africa as a way of linking different histories and places to broader development questions about communities, the state, infrastructure, services, participatory governance, deliberative democracy and the transformation of the landscape.Claire Mercer is a Lecturer in Geography at the University of Leicester, UK. Over the last ten years she has undertaken research in Tanzania and, more recently, Cameroon, and has published on the changing character and work of associational life (NGOs, hometown associations); geographies of governance with a focus on civil society and partnership.Martin Evans did his postgraduate studies in Geography at the School of Oriental and African Studies and King’s College London. Besides diasporas and development, his research examines the complex intersections of conflict, natural resources and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa.

• List of FiguresList of TablesCurrenciesList of AcronymsPrefaceAcknowledgementsPart I: Why home associations matter1. Home associations: between political belonging and moral conviviality2. Contexts and comparisons3. Rethinking research on African diasporas and developmentPart II: The history and structure of home associations4. Home associations and the nation in Cameroon5. Home associations and the nation in TanzaniaPart III:  The developmental and political work of African home associations6. Welfare and social support in the diaspora7. Modernizing burial and death celebrations8. Education and inequality9. Infrastructure and accountabilityPart IV: Home associations, migration and development10. Conclusions

'This engaging and well-written book offers a richly empirical analysis of the roles of diaspora associations in development back home. Ultimately, the book requires us to rethink many assumptions about the migration-development nexus for Africa, recentering the discussion on nuances, context, heterogeneity, and the everyday lives of people who make these long journeys' Garth Myers, Kansas University 'This is a timely addition to ongoing discourse on the structure and diverse character of African home associations. The authors' incisive participatory research has convinced them that despite their limitations, these associations offer transformative possibilities. Policy makers, researchers, students, development partners and relevant stakeholders will find the book very informative' Aderanti Adepoju, Network of Migration Research on Africa 'Showing the entanglement of national and local politics and elites with a sense of obligation and loyalty to place, this original book reveals the limits and potentialities of 'home' associations in the modern development project. A must for overseas developers the book illuminates an important field of enduring interest' Pnina Werbner, University of Keele