The Experience of Return Migration: Caribbean Perspectives

Since the incorporation of the Caribbean into the European flow of trade in the sixteenth century, the region has experienced successive waves of immigration, emigration and circulation. All forms of migration have therefore been fundamental in the creation and maintenance of Caribbean societies. There is now a considerable amount of return migration to the Caribbean from North America and Europe. There has been very little work published on return migration that focuses on the Caribbean. This book brings together a range of in-depth case studies, concentrating on topics such as the socio-cultural adjustments that are faced by the transnational migrants. Young returning nationals are a particular focus and the book looks at the economic and social roles these return migrants fulfill. The book also develops theoretical constructs concerning how the transnational networks of these returnees help perpetuate mobility, and further the formation of extended multi-local networks linking the returnees with their European, North American and intra-Caribbean kin and families.