Caribbean Journeys: An Ethnography of Migration and Home in Three Family Networks

Karen Fog Olwig

Published by Duke University Press 2007

Caribbean Journeys

An Ethnography of Migration and Home in Three Family Networks

Karen Fog Olwig

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822389859

Overview
Contents

About this book

An ethnographic study of migration based on the experiences of three dispersed Caribbean families as they maintain networks across their diverse locations.

Author / Editor information

Karen Fog Olwig is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen. She is the author of Global Culture, Island Identity: Continuity and Change in the Afro-Caribbean Community of Nevis and Cultural Adaptation and Resistance on St. John: Three Centuries of Afro-Caribbean Life and a coeditor of Caribbean Narratives of Belonging: Fields of Relations, Sites of Identity.

Reviews

“Building on her previous work on historical consciousness, nationalism, and transnationalism, Karen Fog Olwig outlines a new direction for migration studies. By highlighting the ways that individuals’ personal understandings of their migratory experiences are connected to foundational family narratives, Olwig broadens understanding of belonging and diaspora.”—Deborah A. Thomas, author of Modern Blackness: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Politics of Culture in Jamaica

“In this nuanced, sensitive tracing of kinship across borders, Karen Fog Olwig reminds us that most often family ties are at the heart of why migration processes are transnational. An outstanding contribution to kinship, migration, and transnational studies, Caribbean Journeys is an excellent counterpoint to glib references to transnational or diasporic communities.”—Nina Glick Schiller, coauthor of Georges Woke Up Laughing: Long-Distance Nationalism and the Search for Home

“Caribbean Journeys is a refreshing look at immigration from an unusual point of view, and it is worth reading and using in courses not only on immigration but also on social networks, family studies, and cultural identity development.”

-- Silvia Domínguez American Journal of Sociology

“Karen Fog Olwig presents a profound ethnographic study of three transnational Caribbean families. . . . As she describes the nuanced and colourful lives of her participants, it becomes evident that Olwig’s study transcends the fundamental migration related experience. . . . Caribbean Journeys is a valuable contribution to migration literature.”

-- Terry-Ann Jones Ethnic and Racial Studies

“This study of three families’ respective histories of migration from the Caribbean holds many points of interest both for Caribbeanists and for those concerned more generally with migration studies. There is also something here for students of identity politics, both in the UK and in the USA. . . . [An] ethnography of extremely dense and rich transnational relations.”

-- Diane Austin-Broos Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART ONE: A JAMAICAN FAMILY
1. Learning to Mix in Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
2. Seeking Improvement beyond Jamaica Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	62
PART TWO: A DOMINICAN FAMILY
3. The Village Origins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
4. In Pursuit of a Proper Livelihood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
PART THREE: A NEVISIAN FAMILY
5. A Family Home Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
6. To Better Our Condition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
PART FOUR: THE FAMILY LEGACIES
7. The First Generation: Migrating for Improvement of Self and the Family Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
8. Generational Perspectives: Negotiating Identities and Origins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	244
9. Relating Regional, Family, and Individual Histories of Migration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	270
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	311

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Pages
- Main content: 336
Illustrations
- Other: 3 tables

eBook

Published: June 12, 2007
ISBN: 9780822389859