This weeks readings by Olwig, Tilly, and Foner all explored the idea of transnationalism, kin and remittances. The authors discussed families moving from the Caribbean to, primarily, NYC. Olwig’s piece was my favorite because it really connected the reader to the three families and their history. The author did a great job of really understanding how the family spread through London, New York, Nova Scotia and Jamaica. I was able to relate to the family because my family, like many immigrants, left the homeland and went to NYC. Many family members then traveled outward to other states, countries, or returned back to the homeland, like Bill did. My family and I also experienced calling upon family members to the United States and helping them find jobs and homes.
Tilly’s work really emphasized the importance of trust networks. I hadn’t put much thought into this concept, but I’ve come to realize what a major role it plays in immigration and family life. Trust networks allow for migration, create a community, and allow family members to keep in touch with home countries. It’s a path for members to transfer goods and money to one another across borders, find jobs in new countries, and homes. This article also introduced remittances within trust networks. It was eye opening and very informative. Families often send back money to the home country, pay taxes, own property, and have a say in politics. My family, for example, still owned an apartment in our home country while living here. We had a slight role in the economy. In Israel, for example, there is currently an influx of wealthy French property owners who keep apartments in Israel. They add to the economy of the country and have caused apartment rates to skyrocket as demand increased.
Foner touched upon transnational ties, the changes in migration and racial prejudice. Foner discussed how migration has changed between the generation, and NYC was no longer the same. She brings up the point that the West Indian community has spread out from central Harlem to Crown Heights, Flatbush, into Queens and Northeast Bronx. Families no longer just go straight to Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant. People are further spread out, and it is true for people of all culture that migrate to NYC. The once Italian or Jewish neighborhoods have changed, and it is very common to see multicultural neighborhoods now. Foner also spoke about transnationalism, which was covered in the other articles as well. What I found to be original in her work, or just different from the other articles, was that she included “future research”. This was written in an anthropological angle, which differed from what we read before. Her suggestions opened up new questions and called to dig deeper into other cities and patterns of migrations.
