“Leave to Come Back”: The Importance of Family Land in a Transnational Caribbean Community

Mills, Beth H.

doi:10.1057/9780230605046_18

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Such peoples from a range of Pacific and Caribbean islands tend to retain strong links with 'home', however, sending remittances, maintaining multiple, transnational identities and travelling or otherwise supporting their home islands in various ways (Duval, 2003;Mills, 2007). This leads Conway (1997: 22) to conclude that 'The future of every Caribbean society is inextricably tied to the wider society, which would include the overseas, enclave sojourners, Downloaded by [Pennsylvania State University] at 02:15 04 November 2014 emigrant-relatives, and expatriates as essential functionaries, not lostémigrés'.…”

Section: Strong International Linkagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tourism in Small Island States: From Vulnerability to Strengths

Scheyvens

Momsen

2008

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

126

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This article argues that the narrow and frequently negative conceptualisations of small island states as environmentally vulnerable and economically dependent are problematic for sustainable tourism development and for economic development, generally. Scenarios presented to date are often incomplete. Narratives suggesting that island peoples are unskilled and lack resources, and that their islands are 'tiny' and 'fragile', can undermine their pride and stifle their initiative, reducing their ability to act with autonomy to determine and achieve their own developmental goals. A range of more positive conceptualisations is given, demonstrating the strong social dimensions of sustainability in small island states and the resilience and adaptability of island states. Examples describe a number of positive development paths to sustainable tourism in small island states.

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Section: Strong International Linkagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tourism in Small Island States: From Vulnerability to Strengths

Scheyvens

Momsen

2008

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

126

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“…2017:8). Historically, “land ownership was a symbol of personhood, freedom, and prestige as well as a pragmatic survival strategy” for many Black populations in the Americas (Mills 2007:235). These populations are agents who interpret the law and respond in their own ways.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Janet Momsen (1998:130) notes that “[i]n general Barbadians have preferred legal freehold to customary tenure”. Barbadians have preferred to have clear title to land, but like other territories in the Caribbean, “purchased land may become family land at any time if the intent of the owner is for the family to inherit equally” (Mills 2007:235). Family land is a practice that is not necessarily concerned with (and yet also not outside of) the law.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Holding Land, Claiming Kin: The Relation Between Race, Land, and Kinship in the Southern US and Barbados

Franzen

Bascomb

2021

Antipode

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Holding Land, Claiming Kin" uses a comparison between the Southern US and the Caribbean island of Barbados to explore the connection between race, property, and kinship. Focusing on the customary practices of family land and the legal category of heir property, we argue that land ownership is used by racially dispossessed populations to name and practise kinship, to assert multiple forms of belonging, and to define their own value systems within racialised, social, and legal structures. Contributing to broader understandings of Black geographies, this work adds to social understandings of land ownership as place making and has the potential to influence US policies around grants, agricultural assistance, and protection of heir property, as well as Caribbean understandings of land as a family resource. Through this comparative analysis we posit dispossession as more than the loss of monetary wealth and land ownership as more than an economic asset.

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“…Could the transnational experiences of returning Trinidadian (and wider Caribbean) migrants serve to strengthen rather than weaken their sense of 'national belonging'? After all, migration and 'leaving to come back' have long histories of mutual association in Caribbean societies, with movement 'off the island' being one part of the territorial mission, and retaining roots in island homelands its mutual partner (Besson 2002;Conway 1989;Fog Olwig 1999;Marshall 1982;Mills 2007;Richardson 1983). Transnational backgrounds, especially if they enhance human and social capital, provide migrants with extremely valuable assets, including increased confidence, maturity and self-reliance (Levitt 1998(Levitt , 2003.…”

Section: Dual Citizenship -National Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual citizenship or dual identity? Does ‘transnationalism’ supplant ‘nationalism’ among returning Trinidadians?

Conway¹,

Potter²,

Bernard³

2008

Global Networks

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In this article we focus on the dual identities of relatively young Trinidadians who have decided to return to the island of their birth, or of their parents, while still in their thirties and forties. Highly‐educated professional transnational migrants mostly make up our sample of 36; 26 possess dual citizenship. We focus on our informants’ narratives about their transnational experiences, self‐appraisals of their dual identities and how they value dual citizenship. More generally, we ask, does transnationalism supplant nationalism among our returning informants? Unsurprisingly, the diverse responses we document do not support the commonly held explanatory relationship between return adaptations, ‘national belonging’ and the expected dominance of ‘transnational belonging’. Family relations intervene significantly, both to encourage transnationalism and to strengthen nationalism. Feelings of national belonging often accompany transnationalism. Notably, we view dual citizenship strategically and pragmatically as advantageous to the continuation of transnational practices.

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“Leave to Come Back”: The Importance of Family Land in a Transnational Caribbean Community

Cited by 9 publications

References 2 publications

Tourism in Small Island States: From Vulnerability to Strengths

Tourism in Small Island States: From Vulnerability to Strengths

Holding Land, Claiming Kin: The Relation Between Race, Land, and Kinship in the Southern US and Barbados

Dual citizenship or dual identity? Does ‘transnationalism’ supplant ‘nationalism’ among returning Trinidadians?

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