Development and the African diaspora: place and the politics of home, by Claire Mercer, Ben Page and Martin Evans, London and New York, Zed Books, 2008, 258 pp., £18.99(pb), ISBN 9781842779019
The idea and practices of place-based home associations have gained considerable attention over the last two decades. Within the large body of work on the relationship between migration, diaspora and development, few studies have explored the intricacies and complexities of migration from a critical geographical perspective inspired by historical materialism. This book makes an important contribution in that direction. Drawing insights from the critical geography of David Harvey and others, Mercer, Page and Evans examine the wider politics of the relationship between development and diaspora in the context of Africa. Their study explores these broader themes through an examination of the developmental activities of four home associations in Bali and Manyu in Cameroon and Rungwe in Tanzania. In framing their questions on the link between migration and development, the authors underline their concern with ‘the relation between places, the politics of uneven development, the distribution of resources and questions of justice’ (p. xii). According to the authors, the burgeoning interest in the ‘migration-development nexus’ is mainly due to the perceived ‘developmental benefits’ of migration and ‘increasing realisation of the scale of international remittances and the associated puzzle over the impacts of this money’ (p. xi).
The book is divided into four sections. The first part considers conceptual questions regarding migration, development and diaspora in the fields of Development and African Studies. Migration mainly ‘treats the movement of people as the agglomeration of the rational acts of individuals governed by the logics of incentives and opportunities. “Diaspora”, however, with its association with the strange dialectic of simultaneous flight from and longing for home, foregrounds questions of emotion and desire’ (p. 51). Drawing on critical geography and post-colonial theories of culture, identity, place and belonging, the authors argue that we cannot simply treat diaspora as another category consistent with the dominant conceptualisation of development. Rather, in the context of Africa, the developmental work carried out by diasporic home associations ‘challenges core assumptions about space and agency that are deeply embedded in development studies epistemology’ (p. 52).
The second section focuses on the structure and character of four home associations in Tanzania and Cameroon, and traces their colonial and post-colonial history. The historical inquiry shows that factors such as territory, migration, faith, labour, ethnicity and geography played an important role in the formation of early associations. The third section addresses the activities of the associations and analyses their critical interventions in the area of welfare activities. The idea of ‘sociality’ plays an important role here: the authors suggest that ‘welfare provision by home associations emerges from and is intimately linked to their role as sites of sociality’ (p. 134). These associations make progressive interventions in the areas of education, health, water supply, and other social services. The idea of modernisation of the home place is also central to their activities. However, modernisation is viewed as ‘indigenization’ with an emphasis on ‘tradition’ and ‘culture’. Some of the associations try to modernise the traditional practices of burials by establishing modern mortuaries, which in turn leads to changes in the ‘timing of burial’ (p. 168). The idea of conservation has also created some enthusiasm in terms of renovation of cultural objects and monuments.
The concluding section evaluates the structure of home associations and their capacities in the spheres of politics, development and policy making. Though the capacity to mobilise resources for public goods is limited in comparison with donor agencies and government, their potential goes beyond material gains. The authors argue that the real importance of these associations should be understood in terms of their capacity to challenge the ‘existing definitions of development through their investment in projects that would not be normally included under mainstream development as defined in Western development discourse’ (p. 228). Moreover, home associations often compel local elites to intervene and mobilise resources for developmental works. In the realm of policy making, the authors do not agree with the idea of imposing regulations upon the home associations but argue that they should retain their autonomy.
One of the important criticisms against these associations' engagement with the ‘politics of culture’ and ‘place’ is that this often produces some narrow mentalities and patrimonial elements in their respective societies. By rejecting the conventional wisdom, the authors give some hints regarding the inherent rationalities of modernisation theory and its failure to understand the dialectic of these categories in Africa. For example, modernisation theory often viewed one's attachment to his/her place as an impediment to societal progress and irrational. The authors critique this idea by showing the progressive potentialities of these associations in terms of their capacity to challenge the ‘oppressive practices surrounding widowhood and witchcraft accusations’ (p. 232).
The idea of African diasporas as an ‘untapped source of resource’ for development has been embraced by both theorists and policy-makers in various countries. However, there are some serious problems with this kind of an understanding which often fails to pay enough attention to the complexities of their operational logic. Many of these discussions about diaspora have been based on a simplistic understanding of rational-economic calculations. This kind of reductionist view obscures the complex dialectic of national/international migration, their interaction with dominant social relations, and corresponding development patterns.
The central argument underpinning the book is that it is imperative in migration-development discourses to consider the distinctive nature of the African diaspora, its complex dialectic in terms of place, culture, ethnicity and language, and its relationships with dominant social relations. The book is well informed, with its arguments thoroughly based on detailed field research corroborated by insights from critical geography and political economy. The volume is a valuable and critical contribution to the growing literatures on migration, diaspora and development studies in the context of Africa. Its major strength lies in its ability to link theoretically and analyse empirically the critical interventions of home associations, thereby making a strong plea for a distinctive understanding of African diasporas in both academic and policy literatures.