Dual citizenship or dual identity? Does ‘transnationalism’ supplant ‘nationalism’ among returning Trinidadians? |
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Authors: | DENNIS CONWAY ROBERT B POTTER GODFREY ST BERNARD |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Geography, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA conway@indiana.edu;2. Department of Geography, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights PO Box 227, Reading RG6 6AB, UK r.b.potter@reading.ac.uk;3. Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago gstbiser@gmail.com |
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Abstract: | 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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Keywords: | DUAL CITIZENSHIP TRANSNATIONALISM RETURN MIGRATION TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO |
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