Byfield Judith Ann-Marie - Global Africa: into the twenty-first century

We are grateful, first and foremost, to our many contributors for their commitment to the mission of the book, willingness to revise their pieces numerous times, and patience with us as editors. Several authors were already friends and colleagues; others were complete strangers willing to take a chance on our project. All are very busy scholars, activists, policy makers, journalists, artists, and/or public intellectuals who found time to write (and rewrite) their articles under tight deadlines. Thank you.

The idea for the volume began with a conversation between Dorothy and Matthew Gutmann, coeditor, with Jeffrey Lester, of the series The Global Square. We thank them for their encouragement, good humor, and innovative vision. Naomi Schneider, executive editor at the University of California Press, has been a stalwart supporter from the beginning. Will Vincent and Renee Donovan, her editorial assistants, responded calmly and quickly to our many questions.

Many of these pieces were presented in draft form at a two-day workshop on Global Africa held at Rutgers University in September 2015. The workshop provided a vibrant space for debate, discussion, and learning among presenters and with our engaged audience. We all left excited about the intellectual and political possibilities of the volume. But the logistics of organizing travel, accommodations, food, and more for almost twenty participants from around the world were formidable. Thankfully, Rene DeLancey, the business manager for the Center of African Studies at the time, coordinated everything with her usual grace, goodwill, and extraordinary management skills. Many Rutgers units cosponsored the event: School of Arts and Sciences, Centers for Global Advancement and International Affairs, Institute for Research on Women, Department of Anthropology, Center for African Studies, Department of History, Department of Africana Studies, and Department of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures. We also received support from the History Department and the Africana Studies and Research Center of Cornell University.

Several authors also presented drafts of their papers at a double session on Global Africa that we organized for the annual meeting of the African Studies Association in November 2015 in San Diego. Provocative questions and comments from several audience members helped authors focus their arguments and assisted us in sharpening our introduction.