This pioneering book explores the meaning of the term ¿Black social economy,¿ a self-help sector that remains autonomous from the state and business sectors. With the Western Hemisphere¿s ignoble history of enslavement and violence towards African peoples, and the strong anti-black racism that still pervades society, the African diaspora in the Americas has turned to alternative practices of socio-economic organization. Conscientious and collective organizing is thus a means of creating meaningful livelihoods. In this volume, fourteen scholars explore the concept of the ¿Black social economy,¿ bringing together innovative research on the lived experience of Afro-descendants in business and society in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Guyana, Haiti,