Pilgrimage Tourism of Diaspora Africans to Ghana

Ann Reed author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:16th Sep '14

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Pilgrimage Tourism of Diaspora Africans to Ghana cover

Processes of globalization have led to diasporic groups longing for their homelands. One such group includes descendants from African ancestors displaced by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, who may be uncertain about their families' exact origins. Traveling home often means visiting African sites associated with the slave trade, journeys full of expectations. The remembrance of the slave trade and pilgrimages to these heritage sites bear resemblance to other diasporic travels that center on trauma, identification, and redemption. Based on over two years of ethnographic fieldwork with both diaspora Africans and Ghanaians, this book explores why and how Ghana has been cast as a pilgrimage destination for people of African descent, especially African Americans. Grounding her research in Ghana’s Central Region where slavery heritage tourism and political ideas promoting incorporation into one African family are prominent, Reed also discusses the perspectives of ordinary Ghanaians, tourism stakeholders, and diasporan "repatriates." Providing ethnographic insight into the transnational networks of people and ideas entangled in Ghana’s pilgrimage tourism, this book also contributes to better understanding the broader global phenomenon of diasporic travel to homeland centers.

“Through seven wonderfully crafted chapters, anthropologist Reed begins to explain the emerging phenomenon of slavery heritage tourism among visitors to Ghana. Using case studies and field-based research, the author does an excellent job of balancing qualitative and quantitative data to tell the story of residents and tourists involved with the phenomenon. Readers cannot help but feel they are part of the story told in Cape Coast, Ghana, as the words on the page come to life through numerous somber vignettes. This text would be ideal for libraries with a collection specializing in cultural heritage tourism and anthropology. Summing Up: Highly recommended.” -K. M. Woosnam, Texas A&M University in CHOICE

“In addressing issues of identity, belonging, memory, and history in the heritage industry in Ghana, Ann Reed’s Pilgrimage Tourism of Diaspora Africans to Ghana makes a substantial contribution to current academic debates about diaspora, globalization, heritage tourism, and memory. This is an important book that deserves to be widely read.” - Mattia Fumanti, University of St. Andrews, in American Anthropologist

ISBN: 9780415885027

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 430g

234 pages