For several decades there has been extensive migration from the small island states of the South Pacific and the eastern Caribbean to metropolitan countries, resulting in absolute population decline in some states and new social, economic and political relationships between these island regions and distant worlds. Early research on the consequences for island development of return migration and remittances dwelt upon the unproductive nature of expenditures and the various problems return migration and remittances cause. Questioning this view, a new conceptualization of the influences of migration, circulation and remittances on recipient families, communities and societies in the island states of the South Pacific and the Caribbean is presented. Regional similarities and differences are recognized, yet commonalities of island microstates' experiences emerge. Remittances are a very significant private transfer of capital and return migrants represent people endowed with human capital, capable of enriching the social and cultural capital stocks of their island communities. In both insular regions, the consolidation of transnational linkages emphasizes the significance of diaspora relations for migrant households at home and abroad and offers some prospects for sustainable development, beyond those offered solely by domestic economic opportunities. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2000.

Slow tourism represents a progressive genre of alternative tourism for offerings, which are in need of re-branding, through the decentralized medium of remote locales in the Caribbean beyond mass-tourism complexes. We propose this new form of slow tourism as a viable promotional identity for alternative tourist information technologies. A further contribution to this new construct ' s identity is our recognition of the potential for the Caribbean diaspora to participate as stake holders in slow tourism ventures in underdeveloped spaces of the Caribbean that lack the requisite resources and bundle of social and economic advantages that masstourism relies upon. Thus, the unevenness of tourism-driven development in the Caribbean can be countered progressively, and more inclusively, than in times past. In addition to developing the theoretical construct of slow tourism, we offer several prototype examples to demonstrate quality offerings already in praxis.

"Our aims in this paper are to broaden explanation of remittance expenditures and to evaluate the positive contributions of remittances, return migrants, or circulating sojourners. Specifically focusing on the situation in ¿home' communities, we illustrate the multifaceted consequences of remittances and migration, emphasizing positive nonmonetary and social impacts." Data are from ethnographic research carried out in 1992-1993 in Santa Ana del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico.

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To better understand the positive contributions return migrants and migrant remittances make in Latin American society, this paper offers a reevaluation of existing conceptual frameworks. Previous research dwelt upon the unproductive nature of expenditures and the difficulties facing return migrants as they reintegrate themselves in home communities, among other problems caused by migration. Drawing upon recent feminist scholarship and the growing body of literature focused on the positive aspects of "migradollars" (U.S. dollars returned by migrants) upon home communities, we propose that remittance investments should be analyzed for their progressive and satisficing effects. We focus on the potential range of household strategies for remittance investment, the ways migrant circnlation patterns relate to family and household decision making, and the impact of remittances and migration upon community structure. Finally, using ethnographic data from rural Mexico, we illustrate our argument and demonstrate the dynamic nature of contemporary migration and migrant remittances.