African Diaspora Studies: A Historiographical Reflection

Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies

FADS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.14-48.

Print ISSN: 3107-1805; Online ISSN: 3107-1813

Journal homepage: https://www.fadsjournal.com

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/FADS.26.01.03adshr

理解非洲移民裔群：学术史的视角

李安山（Li Anshan）

摘要：非洲移民裔群（African Diaspora）是一个重要的跨学科研究领域。本文从学术史的视角探讨了非洲移民裔群的四个方面：内涵与定义、历史与影响、现实与分布、研究与思考。文章首先界定了“非洲移民裔群”的四重维度：社会群体、历史现象、发展过程及关系网络。作者将非洲移民历史划分为五个阶段：初史时期的人类迁徙、公元1500年前的移民、大西洋奴隶贸易时期、欧洲殖民时期、二战后的当代移民，并指出非洲移民裔群不仅是大西洋奴隶贸易的结果。文章阐述了该群体的全球分布现状及其在经济、政治、文化领域对全球的深远影响，包括对西方工业革命的贡献、在音乐、艺术、哲学、科技等领域的创造性成就以及侨汇对当今非洲经济的支撑。非洲移民裔群研究涉及诸多学科领域。文章从哲学层面探讨了该群体的贡献，重点评述了安东·阿莫、杜波依斯、法农、姆丁贝、维雷杜等哲学家的理论遗产。本文认为非洲移民裔群研究应以非洲为出发点，关注该群体面临的多重困境，并指出中国学界在此领域尚有广阔的研究空间。本文旨在超越非洲大陆与海外移民的传统二分法，从“全球非洲”的战略高度理解这一群体的历史地位与当代意义。

关键词：非洲移民裔群；学术史；泛非主义；全球非洲；身份认同；去殖民化

作者介绍：李安山（通讯作者），多伦多大学博士，北京大学教授，湖南大学兼职教授，多所大学荣誉教授，摩洛哥王国科学院院士、联合国教科文《非洲通史》（9-11卷）国际科学委员会副主席，国务院侨办专家咨询委员会首批专家，中国非洲研究院特约研究员，中国非洲史研究会名誉会长，《非洲流散研究前沿》学术顾问。^{^[1]}电子邮箱：anshanli@pku.edu.cn

Title: African Diaspora Studies: A Historiographical Reflection

Abstract: The African Diaspora is an important field of interdisciplinary study. The article explores four aspects of the African diaspora from the perspective of academic history, e.g., connotation and definition, history and influence, reality and distribution, research and reflection. The article first defines the four dimensions of the African diaspora——social group, historical phenomenon, development process, and relational networks. The author divides the history of African diaspora into five stages: human migration from Africa to other continents, migration before 1500 AD, Atlantic slave trade, European colonial period, and contemporary migration after World War II, and points out that the African diaspora is not only related to the Atlantic slave trade. The article elaborates on the global distribution of African diaspora and the profound impact on the world in the fields of economy, politics, and culture, including contributions to the Western Industrial Revolution, creative achievements in music, arts, philosophy, technology, and other fields, as well as the support of overseas remittances for today’s African economy. The study of African diaspora involves many disciplines. The article probes the philosophical contributions of African diaspora, with a focus on the theoretical legacies of philosophers such as Anton Amo, Du Bois, Fanon, Mudimbe, and Wiredu. The author suggests that research on African diaspora should take Africa as a starting point, focusing on the multiple challenges faced by this group, and points out that there is broad research space in the field for the Chinese academia. The article aims to go beyond the traditional dichotomy between the African continent and overseas immigrants, and understand the historical status and contemporary significance of the African diaspora from the perspective of Global Africa.

Keywords: African Diaspora; history of scholarship; Pan-Africanism; Global Africa; identity; decolonization

Author Biography: Li Anshan（corresponding author）, PhD from the University of Toronto, is Professor at Peking University; Part-time Professor of Hunan University; Honorary Professor at several universities; Member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco; Vice Chair of the International Scientific Committee for General History of Africa (Volumes 9–11), UNESCO; Specially Appointed Research Fellow at the China-Africa Institute, Honorary President of the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies, and Academic Advisor of Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies. E-mail: anshanli@pku.edu.cn