On Returns to West Africa

Similarities and Differences

Abstract

There are many studies on communities in Africa founded by so-called “returnees”, but there are no in-depth studies comparing the trajectories of these “returns”. This paper is a comparative study with a specific focus: its central concern is the relations that the returnees – specifically the first two generations – established with the local populations. Besides identifying similarities, the paper points out substantial differences, relating them to specific conjunctures and contexts. The experiences of returnee communities in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin and Ghana serve as examples that allow the reconstruction of different “modes” of “reinsertion” of populations, once kidnapped from their communities of origin, into the African continent.