Introduction
Diaspora is a word which looms large in the history of Caribbean Islands. Caribbean Islands can be called a society of societies composed of Diasporas. Apart from the Amari-Indians who were the originals in the islands, everyone else came from outside in the Caribbean Islands. Main immigration to the Caribbean Islands happened during the sugar trade years. Most of the people migrated from different countries of Europe and along with them came the slaves who were mostly from different African nations. Last three centuries saw immigration to different Caribbean Islands and colonization of the region by different European nations. Those people who actually came from outside became part of the Caribbean Islands. These unique mixes of people from different territories created a unique cultural and ethnic lineage in the islands. However, in last fifty years the region is seeing emigration. Over the last half century due to extensive rate of emigration, Caribbean people have spread across different nations in the world. This diaspora has not only made huge economic impact on the Caribbean nation states but also has huge cultural influence on the local communities where they have settled. This paper will examine the reason for this growing diaspora, its economic and cultural impact on the home states and how this trend will affect the Caribbean nations in future.
America is a continent where diaspora is a common terminology. It is the European and African diaspora which helped build the nations like United States and Canada in the 16th and 17th century (Yelvington 2001). Similar can be said about Mexico, Brazil and other American nations. However, after some point in time in history, the rate of immigration to these nations has dropped significantly with these nations having formed their own individual identity. Caribbean islands are also part of this. However, this new world (Americas) which is formed mainly in the 16th and 17th century has distinct individual identities now. This cannot be said for the Caribbean nations which upon witnessing immigration for centuries have formed a distinct culture of their own but in last fifty years Caribbean Islands are seeing a reverse trend. A large section of the population is immigrating to other countries for work, better living condition or to stay with family. Among the total population that is emigrating, almost 75% of those settle in USA (Nurse 2004). Rest of the immigrating population mainly settles in United Kingdom, France, Canada and Netherlands. The main emigration happened in two waves from Caribbean. First happened in 1950s and 1960s when most of the OECD countries faced a huge labor shortage and many of those vacancies were fulfilled from the semi-skilled and unskilled labor force from Caribbean Islands. 1980s and 1990s saw the second wave of huge emigration due to global economic restructuring and declining social conditions in Caribbean islands (Nurse 2004). Apart from these factors other political factors like Cuban unrest and 1994 Haitian exodus are also some other reason for major population emigration (Nurse 2004).
In recent years it is seen that majority of the population which moves out to other countries are found to be moving out due to family reunification. Better work is the second largest cause of emigration. In the past, due to the shortage of unskilled labor in USA, it has created Seasonal Agricultural Worker’s Program which encouraged lots of people from Caribbean islands to come for work in USA.
Ethnicity and Cultural Trend
Most of the countries in the world have some predominant ethnicity in their region. However, Caribbean Islands do not have one predominant ethnicity. For example, islands like Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados and Bahamas have predominantly black population (Yelvington 2001). On the other hand Dominican Republic has predominantly British ethnicity. Trinidad and Tobago has a mixed ethnicity between African, Latino and British. However, if we look at the overall culture of the region it seems they have a very unique culture not dominated by one country or one race; rather it is the culture of the region which the large diaspora around the world carries as the Caribbean culture. For example, the diaspora of Caribbean Islands in US and UK shows a weak family structure (Reynolds 2004). In most of the cases it is seen that families are headed by a single woman with kids. Men are often seen not taking responsibility for family and they have multiple partners. This trend is seen almost across all the Island nations. The root for this trend can be traced back to the Afro-influence (Yelvington 2001). Most of the slave population which migrated to the Caribbean from very early times has shown families led by woman. This over the period of time has become the norm in the Islands. The diaspora is no different. As a single earner of the family, a Caribbean woman has to work outside and simultaneously take care of the family. Often the earning is not enough. For this reason most of the immigrant population in US and UK still live in very poor condition and unable to come out of it as they cannot afford to spend money on education for the kids (Reynolds 2004). This cycle continues. Caribbean diaspora has another set of highly educated and family oriented population strata. Some of them hold very good positions in OECD countries and often support families back at home. The total money sent as remittances to the Caribbean Islands by its diaspora is more than the total income from tourism and agriculture in most of the Caribbean countries. Countries like Jamaica and Cuba get more than $1 billion as remittances from its diaspora (Nurse 2004). This often helps the local governments run the facilities in a better way.
Cultural Export
Caribbean Islands is known for its unique culture; especially the music of the region is one of the most rhythmic in the whole world. The music from the region has a huge market to the diasporic population. In fact the maximum revenue earning from the Caribbean music comes from the US diaspora. London, New York, Miami, Paris, Toronto and Amsterdam are the major hubs of the Caribbean diaspora. They help organize musical and cultural events in those locations to spread the Caribbean music. The amount of revenue earned from music is estimated to be $50 to $60 million in 2003 (Nurse 2004). For example, Notting Hill Caribbean carnival in London attracts more than 2 million people every year. The economic impact of the festival is close to $100 million and is the largest festival of POP culture in whole of Europe. These diasporic cultural festivals have become the face of Caribbean culture to the outside world.
Tourism
Tourism is one of the main sources of income for many Caribbean countries. It is often assumed that people who are non-Caribbean are the main tourists in the region. However, from whatever limited study is available it is seen that up to 40% of the visitors visiting the region for tourism or some other purpose are the diasporic population (Nurse 2004). In fact during the regional cultural fests and carnivals huge diasporic tourists come to the islands. This also has a great positive economic impact on the islands.
Negative Impacts
Caribbean Diaspora certainly helps the Caribbean islands in many ways. They send money back home as remittances which help the local governments function in a better way. Caribbean Diaspora helps in spreading the Caribbean culture to the outside world. They also come to the island for tourism purpose improving the economics of the Islands even further. However, everything is not positive about diaspora. In recent years, the majority of the migration happening from Caribbean to other countries is that of skilled and educated population (Nurse 2004). The scope of education and wage gap is so huge that skilled workers often migrate to US, Canada or UK. This is creating an intellectual brain drain from the Caribbean countries. Furthermore, due to the unavailability of work many move to other countries as well, causing a problem in the family structure. In countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Dominican Republic women migrate more than men do. In many of those cases children are often left to the grand parents or relatives or family friends till the parents settle down or come back after few years (Reynolds 2004). This problem is making the Caribbean labor force even less competitive than other countries as skilled workers are migrating more and more outside.
Conclusion
Caribbean Diaspora definitely has created a unique situation for the Caribbean countries. The main profit the Caribbean Island nations get from its diaspora is the remittances. This huge amount of money helps those countries economically. The diaspora also helps expand the culture of the Island nations to other countries. However, in recent times more and more skilled population is migrating out of the Caribbean Islands. This is causing a huge loss in human capital from the islands. The question remains whether the loss in human capital is duly compensated by the remittances or in the long run this will have a negative effect on the Caribbean island nations.
Work Cited
Nurse, Keith. Diaspora, Migration and Development in the Caribbean. 2004. Web. 19 Dec 2013 <http://www.focal.ca/pdf/migration_Nurse_diaspora%20migration%20development%20Caribbean_September%202004_FPP-04-6.pdf>
Reynolds, Tracey. Caribbean Families, Social Capital and Young People’s Diasporic Identities. Families & Social Capital ESRC Research Group. London. 2004. Web. 19 Dec 2013 <http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/ahs/downloads/families/familieswp11.pdf>
Yelvington, Kevin A. The Anthropology of the Afro-America and The Caribbean: Diasporic Dimensions. Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. 2001. Web. 19 Dec 2013 < http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic454352.files/Yelvington%20An%20Rev%202001.pdf>
