Description:

“Returning Home?: Mobility, Black Privilege, and Diaspora-Homeland Tensions among Returnees in Liberia.”

The Liberian diaspora is often referred to as the “16th county” of Liberia because thousands of Liberians left during its 14-year-long civil war between 1989-2003, many of them relocating to the United States.  Post-civil war, many returnees are coming back to Liberia. However, they often face resentment from those who stayed during the war.  Structures of social belonging that developed during the 19th century when Liberia was founded have been transformed by these experiences of migration, forever shifting concepts of belonging and identity. Based on interviews with returnees formerly living in the United States, this presentation examines mobility as a form of “Black privilege” that fosters Diaspora-Homeland tensions and transforms concepts of “Congo-Native,” “kwi” and “been-to” in post-war Liberia.  

Co-sponsored by the Program of African Studies
Co-sponsored by the Kaplan Institute for the Humanities