Caribbean Migration

This study examines Caribbean out-migration from the perspective of the Caribbean people in three islands: Jamaica, Barbados and St. Vincent. These islands were selected because they characterize the region's plantation history and pluralist political ideologies. The author overturns the myth that migration occurs as a result of poverty and overpopulation. Instead she theorizes that migration behavior is determined by circumstances in the Caribbean, and how the individual perceives himself/herself in relation to the national and international system. The book contributes to international migration at a theoretical level, destroying the myth of migration being purely the result of poverty and over-population and rejecting explanations based on push-pull models and the unilateral flow inherent in such models. Instead it presents a conceptualization of Caribbean migration that is fundamentally circular and self-perpetuating, and which has become part of the institutional framework of Caribbean societies. Migration behavior is a response to Caribbean circumstances and is an intrinsic part of the formation of the image of self and life chances of the individual. This image, conditioned by the particular location of the individual in relation to the national and international system, is the key element in explaining the complex interplay of global, societal and personal factors resulting in the propensity to move and in the actual move itself. Contents......Page 6 Series Preface......Page 4 Acknowledgements......Page 7 CHAPTER 1 Theoretical perspectives on Caribbean migration: Perception and the image.......Page 24 CHAPTER 2 Three islands: Jamaica, Barbados and St Vincent......Page 46 CHAPTER 3 The micro-environments of migration......Page 72 CHAPTER 4 Migration and the propensity for migration......Page 93 CHAPTER 5 Evaluations of work, education and modernization in migration behaviour......Page 117 CHAPTER 6 Accessibility and information in migration behaviour......Page 135 CHAPTER 7 Integration and mental images......Page 153 Conclusion......Page 168 Appendix......Page 177 References......Page 178 D......Page 190 J......Page 191 P......Page 192 Y......Page 193 Annotation. "Originally published in 1992, this classic considers out-migration from the Caribbean in a unique and sophisticated analytical manner. Its comparative approach, involving three islands (Jamaica, Barbados and St. Vincent) and the range of micro-environments within those islands, is based on data from extensive surveys and in-depth interviews. For the first time, analysis of the migration process reflects the perspective of Caribbean potential migrants themselves."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved The extent to which Caribbean migration has evolved its own dynamic, rooted in social institutions and consciousness, has been omitted from the concept of migration in most of the academic literature.