Conclusion: Toward a Future African Diasporic Approach to Research Diaspora

Abstract

Black transnational engagement between researchers in Brazil and those in the United States adds one more layer to the “major dialogue shaping the cultures and politics of the Afro-Atlantic world” (Matory 2006, 153). Contrary to the notion that intellectual trends are guided by the whims of the “invisible hand” of the academy, there are cognitive orientations and perceived cultural commonalities that explain the origin and persistence of black researchers’ interests in their counterparts in the United States and Brazil. Beyond serving as a logical point of comparison, due to similar (though not identical) histories, their sense of shared political goals, racial commonalities, and solidarity against racism means that diasporic citizens engage in dialogues to monitor, analyze, and refine movements and programs in their own countries (Pereira 2013).