Transnational Return Migration to the English-speaking Caribbean

• Author: Dwaine Plaza and Frances Henry
• Pages: 157-178

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TRANSNATIONAL RETURN MIGRATION TO THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING CARIBBEAN

Transnational Return Migration to

the English-Speaking Caribbean

DWAINE PLAZA AND FRANCES HENRY

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IntroductionIntroduction

IntroductionIntroduction

Introduction

The Caribbean has been incorporated into the global system of

capitalism since the sixteenth century and the region has experienced

successive waves of immigration, emigration and circulation. Most of the

early flow was part of a system of coerced one-way immigration from Africa.

Later movements included voluntary immigration from India, Syria,

Portugal, China and various parts of Europe. Over time, migrations of all

descriptions have been a fundamental force in the creation and maintenance

of Caribbean societies (Conway 1988). Common to the migration

traditions which have become entrenched in the culture of the Caribbean

is the desire of Caribbean people to circulate, but ultimately to return to

their place of birth as a result of either wealth or old age (Thomas-Hope

1985, 1992, 1999; Byron 1994, 1999, 2000; Marshall 1982, 1983,

1987; Gmelch 1980, 1987, 1992). This chapter examines the emergence

of a transnational return migration tradition in the English-speaking

Caribbean since 1834.

Until recently, migration was understood in terms of two opposing

outcomes: permanent settlement or permanent return. Return migration

especially was thought of as the final outcome of the migration process. This

relatively static bipolar model is a simplistic and uni-linear depiction of

migration and return migration which is not consistent with the realities

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FREEDOM AND CONSTRAINT IN CARIBBEAN MIGRATION AND DIASPORA

of population movements in an increasingly transnational world. These

complexities, which characterize migration and return migration, are more

aptly analyzed in a model that emphases migration processes.

The transnational movement of people requires a more processual approach.

Transnationalism refers to the multiple ties and interactions that link people

and their institutions across the borders of nation-states. It is now understood

to have many elements including ‘social morphology, as a type of

consciousness, as a mode of cultural reproduction, as an avenue of capital, as

a site of political engagement, and as a reconstruction of place’ (Vertovec

1999). As a descriptive category or social morphology, transnational groups

are those that are globally dispersed but still identify in terms of their original

ethnicity, and relate to both the host states in which they reside as well as the

home countries from which they or their ancestors originated. They are tied

together transglobally through a variety of social relationships or networks.

Transnational diaspora communities therefore are characterized by

combinations of ties and positions in networks and organizations that

reach across the international borders to link people together. These

communities are formed on the basis of dynamic social, cultural, political

and economic processes, such as those in transnational social spaces which

involve the accumulation, use and effects of various sorts of capital, their

volume and convertibility. Migration and re-migration may not be definite,

irrevocable and irreversible decisions; transnational lives in themselves may

become a strategy of survival and betterment. Transnational webs may also

include relatively immobile persons and collectives. Even those migrants

and refugees who have settled for a considerable time outside their country

of origin frequently maintain strong transnational links. These links can

be of a more informal nature, such as intra-household or family ties, or

they can be institutionalised, such as political parties entertaining branches

in various countries, both of immigration and emigration.

Transnational diaspora communities can perhaps best be understood as

part of processes of global integration and time-space compression. This is

partly a technological issue: improved transport and accessible real-time

electronic communication is the material basis of globalization. Social and

cultural issues however, are equally important. Globalization is closely