Feeling at home in the “Chocolate City” : an exploration of place-making practices and structures of belonging amongst Africans in Guangzhou

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Inter-Asia Cultural Studies

Publication Date

2014

Volume

15

Issue

2

First Page

235

Last Page

257

Publisher

Routledge

Keywords

“Africans in Guangzhou”, “place-making”, belonging, transnational, migration

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the shifts brought about by the emergence of Asia as a key player in global capitalism have led to countless Africans opting for Asian destinations as part of their trade and migration strategies. The implications of the constant ebb and flow of African entrepreneurs in Southern China and the transnational trajectories, connections, and practices they enable have been relatively understudied. This article focuses on place-making practices and structures of belonging surrounding those Africans living in (and circulating through) Guangzhou. Drawing on my fieldwork, I locate possibilities for place-making and belonging within transnational multiethnic microcommunities and highlight practices that have emerged from the assembling of transnational and translocal flows in residential clusters, community organisations, and religious congregations. I contend that the presence and intermingling of diverse transient subjects (both African and Chinese) nurtures “alternative imaginations” of self, place, home, and belonging that alter extant notions of national and cultural identity, ethnicity, and race in twenty-first century Asia.

DOI

10.1080/14649373.2014.911513

Print ISSN

14649373

E-ISSN

14698447

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Castillo, R. (2014). Feeling at home in the “Chocolate City” : an exploration of place-making practices and structures of belonging amongst Africans in Guangzhou. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 15(2), 235-257. doi: 10.1080/14649373.2014.911513

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