Reflecting on contemporary epistemologies of European Blackness
 
Long absent from research in the humanities and social sciences, Black people in continental Europe have become the focus of a growing body of literature in the past two decades that addresses their unique history and social positioning. Black Studies in Europe: An Anthology of Soil and Seeds brings together essays and case studies by a collective of scholars, writers, and activists to offer a critical overview of the emerging field of Black European studies and a vital reflection on contemporary epistemologies of European Blackness. This collection addresses key questions: What is Blackness from a European standpoint? Which epistemologies and theoretical tools have been used to offer a better understanding of Black experiences in Europe? How is this knowledge being produced and by whom? Can we define a common European conceptual framework for Black studies? Related to this work is an even more urgent enterprise: forging an epistemological distinction between the study of Black people and “Black studies” as an emancipatory project.

NICOLE GRÉGOIRE is a research affiliate with the Laboratoire d’Anthropologie des Mondes Contemporains at Université Libre de Bruxelles.
 
SARAH FILA-BAKABADIO is an associate professor in the Faculté des Études Internationales et Interculturelles at CY Cergy Paris Université.
 
JACINTHE MAZZOCCHETTI is a professor of political anthropology in the Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Prospective at Université Catholique de Louvain.

“This timely and distinctive collection invites readers to engage with new perspectives, abiding diasporic tensions, and power-expertise-knowledge politics while elucidating not only the ‘inevitability’ but also the undeniability of Black studies in Europe—a viable field that enriches our understanding of the intellectual history, lived experiences, and futures of Black peoples in those geographies.” —Trica Keaton, Dartmouth College 

“By bringing together a wide array of scholars, poets, writers, and activists, this collection is a timely and necessary update to the Black European studies canon, which has for historical reasons often centered upon Black populations in the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Expanding the reach of the field to include contemporary analyses of Black life in Portugal, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Sweden, this anthology offers trenchant critiques of how racism and ethnonationalism impact the lives of Black Europeans, while also proposing novel solutions for combating the imperial and colonial legacies that continue to constrain their lives.” —Khary Polk, Amherst College

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