Transnationalism and the Caribbean Community in the UK: Theoretical Perspectives

ABSTRACT

The past twenty years have seen the emergence and growth of transnationalism as a concept to describe new immigrant identities and communities in a globalised world and international scholars of migration have begun to recognise its significance in helping to explain and better understand contemporary international migration flows, new immigrant identities and communities. This paper first examines the many diverse theoretical perspectives on transnationalism that have emerged in recent decades; then we narrow the optic to consider its persistence and degrees of adoption/adaptation amongst the ‘next generations’ - the 1.5-, second- and third- generations, with particular reference to the British-Black Caribbean case. From the admittedly limited research conducted to date, findings on second-generation return migration to the Caribbean from the UK suggest that for a cohort of British-born individuals, transnational practices are ‘alive and well’ among British-Caribbean communities. To follow up on such preliminary conclusions, we advocate more research on the transnational practices, inter-generational transfers and intention to return among the 1.5-, secondand third-generation Black Caribbean communities in situ in the UK.