From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration

Author(s): Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch, Cristina Szanton Blanc

Source: Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan., 1995), pp. 48-63
Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research
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FROM IMMIGRANTTO TRANSMIGRANT:THEORIZING
TRANSNATIONALMIGRATION
NINA GLICK SCHILLER
University of New Hampshire

LINDA BASCH
Wagner College

CRISTINA SZANTON BLANC

Columbia University

Contemporary immigrants can not be characterized as the "uprooted." Many are trans-
migrants, becoming firmly rooted in their new country but maintaining multiple linkages
to their homeland. In the United States anthropologists are engaged in building a transna-
tional anthropology and rethinking their data on immigration. Migration proves to be an
important transnational process that reflects and contributes to the current political con-
figurations of the emerging global economy. In this article we use our studies of migration
from St. Vincent, Grenada, the Philippines, and Haiti to the U.S. to delineate some of the
parameters of an ethnography of transnational migration and explore the reasons for and
the implications of transnational migrations. We conclude that the transnational connec-
tions of immigrants provide a subtext of the public debates in the U.S. about the merits of
immigration. [transnationalism, immigration, nation-state, nationalism, identity]

In the United States several generations of re-
searchers have viewed immigrants as persons who
uproot themselves, leave behind home and country,
and face the painful process of incorporation into a
different society and culture (Handlin 1973[1951];
Takaki 1993). A new concept of transnational mi-
gration is emerging, however, that questions this
long-held conceptualization of immigrants, sug-
gesting that in both the U.S. and Europe, increas-
ing numbers of immigrants are best understood as
"transmigrants." Transmigrants are immigrants
whose daily lives depend on multiple and constant
interconnections across international borders and
whose public identities are configured in relation-
ship to more than one nation-state (Glick Schiller
et al. 1992a; Basch et al. 1994). They are not so-
journers because they settle and become incorpo-
rated in the economy and political institutions, lo-
calities, and patterns of daily life of the country in
which they reside. However, at the very same time,
they are engaged elsewhere in the sense that they
maintain connections, build institutions, conduct
transactions, and influence local and national
events in the countries from which they emigrated.
Transnational migration is the process by
which immigrants forge and sustain simultaneous
multi-stranded social relations that link together
their societies of origin and settlement. In identify-
48
ing a new process of migration, scholars of transna-
tional migration emphasize the ongoing and contin-
uing ways in which current-day immigrants
construct and reconstitute their simultaneous em-
beddedness in more than one society. The purpose
of this article is to delineate the parameters of an
ethnography of transnational migration and use
this anthropology to explore the ways in which the
current debate on immigration in the U.S. can be
read as a nation-state building project that delimits
and constrains the allegiances and loyalties of
transmigrants. Once we reframe the concept of im-
migrant and examine the political factors which
have shaped the image of immigrants as the up-
rooted, a whole new approach to understandingim-
migrants and the current debate about immigration
becomes possible.
Three vignettes of discontinuities we have ob-
served between the transnational practices of immi-
grants and common assumptions about immigrants
made by scholars, members of the public, the me-
dia and public officials experts illustrate the myopic
view of immigrants demonstrated in much public
debate. The vignettes point to the need to redefine
our terminology and reformulate some of our basic
conceptualizations of the current immigrant
experience.
 FROM
FROM IMMIGRANT
IMMIGRANT TO TRANSMIGRANT
TO TRANSMIGRANT
A large numberof Filipinohouseholdsare transnational
with individuals,resources,goods, and services moving back
and forth between the U.S., the Philippines,and other coun-
tries. Decisionsthat affectthe daily lives of householdmembers
are made across national borders.Yet Szanton Blanc noted,
while participatingwith census organizersand Filipinoimmi-
grantsliving in New York in discussionsthat precededthe ad-
ministrationof the 1990 U.S. Census, that census questions
about householdsdid not reflectthe transnationalismof these
populations.1The questionsassumedthat all Filipinosresided
in the U.S. permanently,havingcut their ties with their coun-
tries of origin. The partial characterof many of the Filipino
householdslocated in the U.S. that participatedin the census
interviewwas not recognized.The frequencyof travelbetween
the two countries,the ongoingrelationshipsbetweenhousehold
membersliving in both locations marked by a constant ex-
change of funds and resources,and the organizationof activi-
ties acrossborderswere not examined.Hence, officialsof gov-
ernmentaland civic institutionsoften formulatepolicies and
programsbased on census data that inadequatelycapturethe
structureand mode of operationof many contemporaryimmi-
grant households.
I****
At a dinnerrecentlyGlick Schillerlistenedwhile interna-
tionaldevelopmentexpertsdebatedthe degreeto whichland in
the Haitiancountrysidewas cultivatedby squatters.These spe-
cialistsdid not consultwith the only Haitianat the table. They
did not expecthim to be familiarwith questionsof land tenure
in Haiti because he was an authorityon Haitian cosmology
who had been living in the U.S. since he was a teenager.What
they did not consider was that the Haitian scholar and his
brotherownedland in Haiti and that the two brothershad ne-
gotiateda workingrelationshipwith the squatterswho livedon
that land. Like so many Haitians in the U.S., the Haitian
scholarrelatesto Haiti throughdiverseand ongoingsocial and
class relationshipsthat influencehis stance towardsdevelop-
ment in Haiti. Expertson Haiti routinelyignorethe impactof
transnationalmigrationon all aspects of Haitian society, in-
cluding Haiti's relationshipto the U.S.
At Expo 1993, a trade and culturalfair in Brooklynspon-
soredby the CaribbeanAmericanChamberof Commercethat
Baschattended,one of the panelsexploredthe extent to which
the curriculumin New York City schoolsgives voice to Afri-
can-Caribbeanand African-Americanexperiences.It soon be-
came clear that manyimmigrantfamiliesopt to send theirchil-
dren to privateWest Indian schools in New York where the
curriculumreflectsboth Caribbeanand U.S. experiences,pre-
paringchildrento live a transnationalexistence.Indeed,many
West Indianyoungstersare sent home to the West Indies for
part of their educations.However,public officialsengaged in
curriculumdevelopmentoften do not recognizethat the sociali-
zation of many transmigrantchildrentakes place in an inter-
connected social space encompassingboth the immigrants'
West Indianhome societiesand the U.S.
49
Towards a Transnational Anthropology
In the 1960s the word "transnational" was widely
used by students of economic processes to refer to
the establishment of corporate structures with es-
tablished organizational bases in more than one
state (Martinelli 1982). In a separate intellectual
tradition several generations of scholars had been
using the adjective "transnational" to signal an
abatement of national boundaries and the develop-
ment of ideas or political institutions that spanned
national borders; it is this usage that can be found
in standard dictionaries. For example, Webster's
Third New International Dictionary, defining the
term as "extending or going beyond national
boundaries" (1976: 2430), provides two examples.
The first from the New Republic magazine speaks
of the "abatement of nationalism and the creation
of transnational institutions which will render
boundaries of minor importance." In the second ci-
tation Edward Sapir reports that "by the diffusion
of culturally important words transnationalvocabu-
laries have grown up."
The recent use of the adjective "transnational"
in the social sciences and cultural studies draws to-
gether the various meanings of the word so that the
restructuring of capital globally is seen as linked to
the diminished significance of national boundaries
in the production and distribution of objects, ideas,
and people. Transnational processes are increas-
ingly seen as part of a broader phenomenon of
globalization, marked by the demise of the nation-
state and the growth of world cities that serve as
key nodes of flexible capital accumulation, commu-
nication, and control (Knox 1994; Knight and Gap-
pert 1989). In anthropology2there has been a re-
newed interest in the flows of culture and
population across national borders, reviving, in a
new global and theoretical context, past interests in
cultural diffusion.3Many contributorsto this schol-
arly trend see it as part of an effort to reconfigure
anthropological thinking so that it will reflect cur-
rent transformations in the way in which time and
space is experienced and represented (Appadurai
1990, 1991; Gupta and Ferguson 1992; Kearney
1991a, 1991b; Hannerz 1989, 1990). Appadurai
has stated that ethnography now has the task of
determining "the nature of locality, as lived experi-
ence, in a globalized, deterritorialized world"
(1991: 196). He has further argued that there is a
need to reconceptualize the "landscapes of group
identity," a need that flows from the current world
50 ANTHROPOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
QUARTERLY
conjuncture in which "groups are no longer tightly
territorialized, spatially bounded, historically un-
selfconscious, or culturally homogeneous" (p.
191).4
Migration is one of the important means
through which borders and boundaries are being
contested and transgressed (Kearney 1991a; Rouse
1991, 1992). Anthropologists who work with mi-
grants have much to contribute to our understand-
ing of a new paradox: that the growth and intensifi-
cation of global interconnection of economic
processes, people, and ideas is accompanied by a
resurgence in the politics of differentiation. When
we study migration rather than abstract cultural
flows or representations, we see that transnational
processes are located within the life experience of
individuals and families, making up the warp and
woof of daily activities, concerns, fears, and
achievements.
Reasons for Transnational Migration
Three conjoining potent forces in the current global
economy lead present day immigrants to settle in
countries that are centers of global capitalism but
to live transnational lives: (1) a global restructur-
ing of capital based on changing forms of capital
accumulation has lead to deteriorating social and
economic conditions in both labor sending and la-
bor receiving countries with no location a secure
terrain of settlement; (2) racism in both the U.S.
and Europe contributes to the economic and politi-
cal insecurity of the newcomers and their descend-
ants; and (3) the nation building projects of both
home and host society build political loyalties
among immigrants to each nation-state in which
they maintain social ties.
Capitalism from its beginnings has been a sys-
tem of production dependent on global interconnec-
tions between the people of the world. Today we
are facing a reconstitution of the structure of ac-
cumulation so that not only are profits accumulated
globally, but all parts of the world have been incor-
porated into a single system of production, invest-
ment, communication, coordination, staffing, pro-
duction, and distribution (Sassen 1994). In this
global context there is less incentive to invest in en-
tire national economies. It has become more profit-
able to base global operations in certain cities and
regions that are emerging as centers of communi-
cation and organization (Sassen 1991). Capital is
being channeled into key sectors and regions while
the infrastructure of transportation, education,
health services are stripped away from those coun-
tries, and sections of countries and cities, defined as
superfluous to the newly defined circuits of wealth
and power. Attacks on the infrastructure take the
form of structural adjustment programs in debtor
countries and calls for reduced taxes and public
spending in capital exporting countries such as the
U.S.
The conditions for migration in a myriad of
economically peripheral states have been set by the
intensive penetration of foreign capital into the
economy and political processes of "post-colonial"
countries in the 1960s and 1970s, and the subse-
quent massive growth of indebtedness and eco-
nomic retrenchment. Faced with wide-spread dete-
rioration in their standards of living, professionals,
skilled workers, unskilled workers, merchants, and
agricultural producers all have fled to global cities
or to countries such as the U.S. that still play cen-
tral roles in capital accumulation. However, once in
these countries, immigrants confront a deepening
economic crisis that often limits the economic pos-
sibilities and security many are able to obtain.
Moreover, those sectors of the current immigrant
population who find themselves racialized as "His-
panic," "Asian," or "Black" find that even if they
obtain a secure position, they face daily discrimina-
tion in the pursuit of their life activities.
Observing the permeability of borders and
boundaries signaled by this form of migration,
some observers have begun to speak of the demise
of the nation-state's ability to form and discipline
its subjects (Kearney 1991a). However, the task of
creating capitalist subjects, and the task of gov-
erning populations who will work in and accept the
world of vastly increased inequalities of wealth and
power, continues to reside primarily in different
and unequal states. Financial interests and transna-
tional conglomerates continue to rely on the legiti-
macy and legal, fiscal, and policing structures of
the nation-state.5 There are, however, changes pre-
cipitated by this emerging form of migration. We
are entering an era in which states that can claim
dispersed populations construct themselves as
"deterritorialized nation-states" (Basch et al.
1994); states that continue to be bases of capital
rather than the homeland of migrants respond in
ways that tighten rather than transgress territorial
boundaries. The hegemonic political ethic of the
U.S. continues to demand that citizens, both native
born and naturalized, swear allegiance only to the
 FROM IMMIGRANTTO TRANSMIGRANT
U.S. and define their political identity within its
borders.Meanwhile,dominantforcesin laborsend-
ing states imagine their states to exist wherever
their emigrantshave been incorporated.
Memoriesof Things Past: The Issue of History
and Memoryin ImmigrationStudies
It is useful to recall the socially and historically
constructednatureof the conceptof nation-stateto
understandthis aspect of transnationalmigration.
Recent scholarshiphas made it clear that nation-
states are relatively new inventionsthat can be
linkedto the developmentof capitalismand to the
type of politicaland economicloyaltiesthat serve
the needs of dominantclasses and strata within
modern centralized states (Hobsbawm 1990;
Gellner 1983). Nation-stateswere constructedas
classesand elite strata,strivingto maintainor con-
tend for state power, popularizedmemoriesof a
sharedpast and usedthis historicalnarrativeto au-
thenticateand validatea commonalityof purpose
and nationalinterests(Anderson1991[1983]).This
process of constructing and shaping collective
memoriescan be called nation-statebuilding.Key
to nation-statebuildingas a politicalprocesshas
been the constructionof a myth that each nation-
state containedwithinit a single peopledefinedby
their residencein a commonterritory,their undi-
vided loyalty to a commongovernment,and their
shared cultural heritage. In the past immigrants
wereforcedto abandon,forget,or denytheirties to
home and in subsequentgenerationsmemoriesof
transnationalconnectionswere erased.
There is evidencethat in variousways and to
different degrees, dispersed populationswhether
they werediasporasof Jews (Clifford1994), Pales-
tinians (Gonzalez 1992), or "old world" immi-
grants to the U.S. (Portes and Rumbaut 1990),
maintainednetworksof interconnection. Many im-
migrantsfromEuropewho settledin the late nine-
teenth and early twentieth century maintained
family ties, sendingboth lettersand money(Metz-
ker 1971; Thomas and Znaniecki 1927). Italians
returnedhome to land purchasedthrough labor
abroad (di Leonardi 1984). The Czechs and
Slovacks (Witke 1940), Hungarians (Vassady
1982), and Irish (Highamand Brooks1978) were
among the many immigratingpopulationswho
built strongnationalistmovementsin Europefrom
a base in the U.S.
These ties were discountedand obscuredby
51
the narrativesof nation that were prevalentuntil
the current period of globalization.Assumptions
about the uprootednessof immigrantsfilteredthe
way in which immigranthistorywas recorded,in-
terpreted,and remembered.6 At the heart of the
metaphorof "America the melting pot" was a
model of immigrantsettlement in which immi-
grantseschewedthe nationalidentityas well as the
customsand languageof their birth.However,the
ruptureof home ties or their transformationinto
sentimentratherthan connectionis also a central
aspectof pluralistand multiculturalimaginingsof
America in which immigrant groups are en-
couragedto preservetheir culture, custom, and
identityyet be fully embeddedin an Americanmo-
saic (Glazer and Moynihan 1970[1963]; Takaki
1989, 1993). Whetherthe imageryhas beenone of
assimilationinto a newly emergentAmericancul-
ture, or incorporationinto a culturally diverse
America,in the U.S. the forgingof an American
nationalityhas beenand continuesto be the under-
lying concernthat unitedall discourseaboutimmi-
gration.7Whathas beenuniformlydefinedas unac-
ceptable was a migrationin which immigrants
settled permanentlyin their new country while
maintainingties to countries they still saw as
homelands.And yet this is an emergingpattern
amongmany immigrantpopulationscurrentlyset-
tling in the U.S.8
A brief recountingof the Americanization
studiescommissionedby the CarnegieCorporation
in 1918 can serve to illustrateboth the types of
transnationalpoliticalconnectionsthat were main-
tained by previousgenerationsof immigrantsset-
tled in the U.S. and the processesby which these
connectionswere discountedand historicallyoblit-
erated. The studies were commissionedduring
WorldWar I becausethe home ties and political
engagementof large numbersof immigrantsfrom
Europeraised questionsabout the allegianceand
loyalty of immigrants.9Researcherswere sur-
roundedby and reportedevidenceof transnational
engagementof immigrantswith their home socie-
ties. Forexample,RobertPark,whosenameis usu-
ally linked to the Carnegiestudies, only became
head of the entireprojectwhen HerbertAdolphus
Miller,who had been leadingthe studies,and who
was Chairof the SociologyDepartmentat Oberlin
Collegein Ohio, resignedin orderto devotemore
time to organizingthe Leagueof CentralEuropean
Nations (Rausenbush1979). Yet transnational ties
wereonly notedin passingand negativelyvaluedin
52 52ANTHROPOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGICALQUARTERLY
QUARTERLY
the publishedstudies.The studiesdescribedand as-
sessedthe progressmadetowardsincorporating im-
migrantsinto U.S. society. These studies contrib-
uted to the publicperceptionthat such populations
were in fact immigrants;meanwhile,the public
campaignsto insure that these immigrantswere
loyalto the U.S. also soughtto diminishthe contin-
uation of home ties. In subsequentgenerations
these connectionsgenerallywere not remembered
or reportedby social scienceresearchers.It is only
now,and in the contextof the successfulincorpora-
tion of past generationsof immigrants,that a revi-
sionist historyin the U.S. is rememberingpersist-
ing transnationalconnectionsof past generationsof
immigrants. (See, for example, Portes and
Rumbaut1990.)
And yet we arguethat the currentconnections
of immigrantsare of a differentorderthan past im-
migrant linkages to home societies. The current
processesof restructuringand reconfiguringglobal
capital have affected both internationalmigration
and nation-statebuildingin significantways. The
new circuitsof capitalprovidethe contextin which
migrantsand the descendantsof migrants,often
fully incorporatedin the countriesof settlement
such as the U.S., maintainor constructanewtrans-
nationalinterconnections that differin their inten-
sity and significancefrom the hometies maintained
by past migrations(Basch et al. 1994). They also
providethe context in which these linkages are
again becomingvisible. Much researchremainsto
be done, but it wouldseem that the currentforms
of capital accumulationand concomitantaltera-
tions in the formationof all classes and strata in-
terpenetratethe politicaland economicprocessesof
nation-statesthroughoutthe world.The increasein
density,multiplicity,and importanceof the trans-
nationalinterconnections of immigrantsis certainly
made possibleand sustainedby transformations in
the technologiesof transportation and communica-
tion. Jet planes,telephones,faxes, and internetcer-
tainly facilitate maintainingclose and immediate
ties to home. However,the tendency of today's
transmigrantsto maintain, build, and reinforce
multiple linkages with their countries of origin
seemsto be facilitatedratherthan producedby the
possibilityof technologicallyabridgingtime and
space. Rather, immigranttransnationalism is best
understoodas a responseto the fact that in a
globaleconomycontemporary migrantshave found
full incorporationin the countries within which
they resettleeithernot possibleor not desirable.At
the same time parties,factions,and leaderswithin
many countrieswhichcan claim dispersedpopula-
tions have lookedto their diasporasas a globalre-
sourceand constituency.Althoughthey seemingly
rupture boundaries and borders, contemporary
transnationalculturalprocessesand movementsof
people,ideas, and capital have been accompanied
by an increasein an identitypoliticsthat is a cele-
brationof a nation.We are witnessingthe simulta-
neousgrowthof globalizingprocessesand the pre-
eminence of exclusive, bounded, essentialized
nationalisms(Appadurai1993; Anderson 1992).
This is a momentin which large numbersof peo-
ple, no longerrootedin a single place, go to great
lengths to revitalize,reconstruct,or reinventnot
only their traditionsbut their political claims to
territoryand historiesfrom which they have been
displaced.Moreoverthese "longdistancenational-
ists" (Anderson1992: 12) insist that their collec-
tive claims to ancestralland bear witnessto their
identityas ancient,homogenous,peoples.Transna-
tional processesseem to be accompaniedby the
"re-inscription" of identityonto the territoryof the
homeland(Gupta 1992). The Portuguesegovern-
ment, for example,has declaredPortugalto be a
global nation (Feldman-Bianco1992, 1994). Its
emigrantsand the descendantsof the emigrantsare
part of Portugal even as they live within other
countries. Similarly, Haitians, Vincentians,
Grenedians,and Filipinosmay residepermanently
abroadbut be seen as constituentsof their home
country.
The differencebetweenthe relationshipof past
sending societies towardstheir diasporasand the
currenteffortsof both immigrantsand states with
dispersedpopulationsto constructa deterritorial-
ized nation-statethat encompassesa diasporicpop-
ulation within its domain can be understood
throughexaminingthe trajectoryof Greekmigra-
tion. Greeceis one of the manycases in whichdis-
persed populationshave been engaged in nation-
state building over several centuries. Merchants
and intellectualsof Greekoriginsettledin Western
Europewere importantactors in the politicaland
culturalprocessesof the late eighteenthand early
nineteenthcenturiesthat resultedin the modern
Greek state (Jusdanis1991).10Crucialintegrative
institutionssuch as local schools,and libraries,the
university,academy,polytechnic,and stadiumwere
built, in large part,by contributionsfromthe dias-
pora.Thereis evidencethat impoverished, illiterate
peasants,as well as wealthy families,contributed
 FROM IMMIGRANTTO TRANSMIGRANT
to building national educational institutions (p.
213). However,and the point is critical,although
these nation-builders engagedin multiple,overlap-
ping transnationalactivitiesin ways that are simi-
lar to present-daytransmigrants,they did not
claim that their settlementsabroadwere part of
Greece.They were deeplycommittedto the strug-
gle to constituteGreeceas a state with its own au-
tonomousterritory.This separationof nation-state
from emigrant populationcan still be found in
statementsof Greek-Americans writingon Greek-
Americanidentity:for example,"amongthoseborn
in this country. . . one's identityis not that of a
transplantedGreek,but ratherthe sensibilityof an
Americanethnic"(Moskos1989: 146, cited in Jus-
danis 1991: 216).
At present,a significantchange is underway.
Both the Greekgovernmentand personsof Greek
origins settled in various countries around the
world are redefiningtheir relationshipto Greece.
The direction of the change is signaled by the
adoptionby the Greek governmentof the term
"spodemoi"or "Greeksabroad"for all personsof
Greekancestry.For a sector of these people,"the
unifyingforceof the Hellenicdiasporais no longer
a place, the nation-state of Greece, but the
imagined transcendentalterritory of Greekness
whichgroupsof individualsmay appropriateto suit
their own needs and interests" (Jusdanis 1991:
217). It is in this new transnationalspace that the
Greek governmentis mobilizingpopularopinion
for its currentoppositionto the newly independent
state of Macedonia.As they participatein the po-
litical processof reimaginingthe historyof North-
ern Greece (Karakasidou1994; Danforth n.d.),
membersof these populations,many long settled,
are participatingin and definingthemselvesas a
part of the Greekpolity while they simultaneously
remain embeddedin the nation-statesin which
they are settled.
Evidenceof TransnationalProcesses
In the remainingsectionsof this articlewe examine
some of the similaritiesthat emerge from such
comparativestudy,illustratethemwith someof our
own field studies,and examinethe implicationsof
this anthropologyof transnationalmigrationfor the
debateon the meritsof immigration.A large body
of ethnographicdata on transnationalimmigrant
networkshas been producedby researcherswork-
ing in the Caribbeanand LatinAmerica.The rich-
53
est descriptionsof transnationalprocessesare of
householdand family economiesrooted in both
sendingand receivingsocieties;fewer descriptions
are availableof transnationalorganizationsand po-
litical processes.Rubenstein(1982) and Thomas-
Hope (1985) in the 1980s and more recently
Gmelch (1992), in describing return migration
from England,Canada,and the U.S. to the island
nation-statesin the West Indies," have docu-
mentedthe interweaveof transnational familyrela-
tionshipsand economictransactionsthat reserveda
place for returnmigrantsat home,offsettingtheir
global vulnerability.These connectionshave ena-
bled immigrantsduringtheir yearsabroadto have
childrencared for by kin at home, to continueas
actors in key family decisions,to visit at regular
intervals, and to purchase property and build
homes and businessesin their countriesof origin,
even as they have boughthomesand createdbusi-
nessesin their countriesof settlement.
Georges (1990) and Grasmuckand Pessar
(1991) have notedthat individualsand households
struggledto maintaintheirclass positionsor to se-
cure class mobilityin the DominicanRepublicby
workingor setting up businessesin New York.
While such sojournsare sometimestemporary,re-
turnhomeis often "fragile"(Grasmuckand Pessar
1991:86), so that manyimmigrantsend up livinga
settledexistencein the U.S. but investingin prop-
erty, businessesand social statusin the Dominican
Republic.Laguerre(1978) and Brown(1991) have
describedHaitiantransnationalfamilynetworksof
urbanworking-classhouseholds.Even thoughthey
had not fully developeda conceptof transnational-
ism, a few scholarsof migrationrecognizedthat
the transnationallinkagesthat they wereobserving
had implicationsfor the immigrantsand their
homeand host societies(Chaney1979). Forexam-
ple, Gonzalez(1988: 10) notedthat manyGarifuna
have "become United States citizens, yet they
think of themselvesas membersof two (or more)
societies."12
Scholars such as Takaki (1989) and Pido
(1986), writingaboutAsianimmigrantpopulations
in the U.S., have been even more focusedon the
problemsof immigrantintegration,assimilation,
and belonging, than those writing about Latin
Americanand Caribbeanimmigrants.Nonetheless,
recentethnographicaccountscontainsomedescrip-
tions of immigrantsfrom the Philippines,China,
and Koreacontinuingto maintainties back home
(Pido 1986;Wong 1982;Kim 1987).
54 ANTHROPOLOGICAL
QUARTERLY

Evidenceof transnationalpatternsof intercon- cial mobilityin contextsof vulnerabilityand subor-

nectioncan be foundin descriptionsof migrations dination to world capitalismboth at home and
to the U.S. and WesternEuropefrommost regions abroad.
of the world.Some ethnographers workingwith re- Thesecollectivetransnational familystrategies
cent immigrantsin Italy, France, Holland, and also have importantimplicationsfor class produc-
Spainhaveoccasionallyobservedevidenceof trans- tion and reproduction at bothendsof the migration
national linkages (Eintziger 1985; Carter 1994; stream.They are helpfulin maintaining,and also
Neveu 1994; Jimenez Romero 1994). "Dollar" at times in enhancing,the social and economicpo-
houses recentlyhave been noted to transformthe sitionsof transmigrants' familiesin class structures
landscapeand inflatelocal land values in the Phil- at home where opportunitiesare often deteriorat-
ippines and India as well as in the Caribbean, ing. The Vincentianpeasant family of the Car-
Latin America,the Pacific, and Africa. However, ringtonsis an apt exampleof the need to deploy
evenwhenthey havedocumentedthe circulationof
familymembersin severallocationsin orderto sur-
peopleand remittances(Ballard1987) or identified vive as a unit and retaina land base in St Vincent,
the growthof transnationalculturaldiasporas(Co- and the relativeadvantagethat comesfromsuch a
hen 1994;Hall 1990), a numberof scholarswork-
strategy.This familyownedtwo acresof land, the
ing in Europehaveyet to recognizethe significance produceof which the mothervendedin the local
of these interconnectionsfor studies in migration market.Householdmemberslivedin a simpleclap-
and culturalpolitics.A conceptof "transnational- boardhouseof two rooms,with no indoorplumbing
ism" wouldallow researchersto take into account or electricity.Two daughters,who could not find
the fact that immigrantslive their lives acrossna-
tional bordersand respondto the constraintsand employmentin St. Vincent'sstagnanteconomy,de-
demandsof two or more states. spite the country'srecent political independence,
migratedto the U.S. as domesticworkersto gain
incomethat could help supportfamilymembersin
A ComparativeEthnographyof Caribbeanand Saint Vincentand contributeto buildinga cement
Filipino Transnationalism block family home. Two brothers,who also could
not find work locally, migratedto Trinidadas a
skilled automobile mechanic and construction
Among the Caribbeanand Filipinotransmigrants
with whomwe worked,the processesof settlement worker.The wife of one of the brotherslaterjoined
fostered the developmentof transnationalism.As her husband'ssistersin New York, whereshe too
they settled in their new homes, members of these becamea live-indomesticworker.The motherre-
mainedbehindin St. Vincentto care for her son's
populationsdevelopedmultiple social, economic,
and politicalties that extendedacrossborders.In- two small childrenand overseethe constructionof
corporationin the U.S. accompaniedand contrib- the family home. At variousmomentsone of the
uted to incorporationin the home society. Funda- brothersin Trinidad,whenhe was laid off fromhis
mental to these multiple networks of work in Trinidad,returnedto the family home in
interconnection are networksof kin who are based St. Vincent;it was loans from his sisters in New
in one or more households.Among all classes it Yorkthat enabledhim to returnto Trinidadwhen
takes some resourcesto migrateand, often, migra- employmentopportunitiesthere increased.
tion and the establishmentof transnationalnet- A middle-classFilipinocouple, severedfrom
worksare strategiesto insure that a householdis the supportof their extendedfamily becauseof a
able to retainwhat it has in termsof resourcesand businessmisunderstanding, experienceddifficulties
social position.Flexible extendedfamily networks findingadequateemploymentand supportingtheir
have long been used in all these countriesto pro- childrenin school during the 1980s. Facing the
vide access to resources.By stretching,reconfigur- possibilityof a reducedclass positionand social
ing, and activatingthese networksacrossnational status, they took a calculatedrisk and migrated
boundaries,familiesare able to maximizethe utili- (firstthe wife and then the husbandand children)
zation of labor and resourcesin multiplesettings to the U.S., eventhoughthey had to leavetwo chil-
and survivewithin situationsof economicuncer- drenbehindto finishschool.Followingtheirmigra-
tainty and subordination.These family networks, tion, child rearingdecisionshave been made by
acrosspoliticaland economicborders,providethe phoneand childrenhave movedbackand forthbe-
possibilityfor individualsurvivaland at times so- tweenschooland businessopportunities in different
 FROM IMMIGRANTTO TRANSMIGRANT
parts of the U.S. and the Philippines.After the
successfulweddingof their daughterto a Manila
dentist,whichwas financedby with dollarsearned
in the U.S., the familyis now buyingland to build
a housein the Philippines;it also is investingU.S.
savings in a small businessstarted by one of the
sons in Manila. The parentscontinueto live in a
small rentedapartmentin Queens.
Not everyonewithina familynetworkor even
withina householdmay benefitto the same degree
and tensionsaboundas men and women,those at
home and those abroad,define their interestsand
needs differently.s1For example,a Haitiandoctor
living in Queensinvitedhis nieces from Haiti into
the household.His wife, who foundher doublebur-
den of work and houseworkcompoundedby the
presenceof her husband'skin, was bitteraboutthe
arrangement.Her anger was fueled by the fact
that she wanted room for her own siblings'chil-
dren. In poorerHaitianfamiliestransmigrantsfeel
crushedby "bills here and there,"while those left
at homefeel that they are not beingadequatelyre-
imbursedfor the family resourcesthey have in-
vested in sendingthe migrantabroad.Haitiansof
peasantbackgrounds,illiterateand with little ac-
cess to phonesin Haiti, have developeda rhetoric
in the form of songs sent throughaudio cassettes
within which tensionsand fissureswithin transna-
tional householdsand kin networksare communi-
cated (Richman1992a). Women,who often shoul-
der the responsibility for their children's
upbringing,face particularpressuresto sendmoney
back home. A study of Haitian remittancesfrom
New YorkCity to Haiti indicatedthat womensent
larger amounts of money than men did, with
women who "headed households"sending the
greatestamount(DeWind 1987).
Migrantshave also createdbusinessactivities
that build upon, and also foster, transnationalso-
cial relationships.Studentsof immigrationin the
U.S. have devoteda great deal of energyto the in-
vestigationof enclave economies,postulatingthat
densely settled immigrantsare able to generate
their own internal market for culturallyspecific
cuisines, products, and objects (Sassen-Koob
1985). However,it is possibleto view such com-
mercial transactionsas located within a transna-
tional space that spans national borders,rather
than as confinedto territoriallybased enclaves.
Sometimes the commercial interconnections
are surreptitiousor so small scale they are barely
visible. This is certainlytrue of the transnational
55
economicnetworksmaintainedby many Haitians
who use familyvisitsbetweenHaiti andthe U.S. to
restocksmall stores and businessesin Haiti with
items brought into Haiti in personal luggage.
Whenshe comesfor periodicvisitsto obtainmedi-
cal treatmentthroughU.S. Medicareto whichshe
is entitledafter long yearsof workin the U.S., as
well as throughvisits to relativesin Montreal,Yo-
landeand her husbandrestocktheirsmallgift shop
in Port-au-Prince.Immacula,visiting her sister,
bringsbleachand othersuppliesfor her sister'sfu-
neral parlor.Many mambosand houngon(priests
and priestesseswho lead Haitian voodoogather-
ings) importritualobjectsfromHaiti for theircer-
emoniesin the U.S.
Often the most successfulmigrantbusinesses
arise in the very intersticescreatedby transnation-
alism-for example,shippingand air cargocompa-
nies, import-exportfirms, labor contractors,and
moneytransferhouses.At the same time the busi-
nessesfacilitatethe deepeningof transnationalso-
cial relations.A shippingcompanystartedby two
brothersfrom St. Vincentis such an undertaking.
Carl Hilaire,usingthe savingshe accruedfromhis
job as a bankclerkin New York,starteda business
shippingbarrelsof goodsbetweenmigrantsin New
York and their kin in St. Vincent.His brotherin
St. Vincent receivedand deliveredthe goods as
they arrivedin St. Vincent. The success of the
brothers'shippingcompanywas in part relatedto
their activeinvolvementsin socialserviceactivities
both in St. Vincentand the immigrantcommunity
in New York,whereeach was well known.
Despitethe wideuse madeof this companyby
transmigrantfamiliesand businessesin New York
and St. Vincent,the limitedcapitalavailablein the
eastern Caribbean immigrant community has
servedas a brakeon the growthof this company.
Employedprimarilyas clerksand juniorlevel ad-
ministratorsin service sector companies,Vincen-
tian immigrants,includingCarl,havelimitedfunds
availablefor investmentpurposes,and limitedcon-
nectionsto peoplewith capital,to enablethis busi-
ness to expandinto relatedactivitiesor to be ex-
tendedto other West Indianislands.
However,it is possiblefor businessesthat fa-
cilitate transnationalconnectionsto generatelarge
amountsof capital. When by 1987 annualremit-
tances to Haiti grew to an estimated to be
U.S.$99.5 milliona year fromthe New Yorkmet-
ropolitanarea, Citibankinvestigatedthe possibility
of competingwith the profitableHaitian money
56 ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
56
transferbusinessesthat had developedin the U.S.
(DeWind1987). Becauseof their largerpopulation
size and resourcebase, Filipinoshave been able to
develop large scale transmigrantbusinesseswith
multiplebranchesacrossnationalbordersby using
the intersticescreatedby the ongoingtransnational
lives of the new immigrants.For example,starting
with the sale of rice and vegetables to Filipino
nurses from a small delivery truck as a second
source of income, a Filipino accountantprogres-
sively graduatedto the bulk air shipmentof trans-
migrants'balikbayan("homecomers")boxes. Ten
years later he had offices in New York, Manila,
and six other Philippinecities, a fleet of some 100
courierspicking up and deliveringthe packages
doorto door,and a specialagreementwith certain
airlines.The once part-timebusinesshas becomea
largeinvestmentand a full time occupationfor him
and other membersof his family. The growthof
these businessesis a testimonyto multipleties that
extendbetweenhome and host countries.
Transnationalpracticesextend beyondhouse-
hold and family networksto includeorganizations
that link the homecountrywith one or moresocie-
ties in which its populationhas settled. Immigrant
"voluntaryassociations"haveoften been studiedas
institutionsthat assist in the adaptationof new-
comersto a new location (Mangin 1965). On the
otherhand,researcherswho have lookedfor expla-
nationsfor culturalpersistencein the midst of as-
similativepressureshave argued that immigrants
build organizationsto preservetheir practicesand
values,even as they assistin adaptation(Jenkinset
al. 1985). Social programsorientedtowardsthe in-
corporationof immigrantsinto their new society
often use these organizationsas culturalbrokers.
Most recentlyin the U.S. immigrantorganizations
havebeen seen as representatives of ethniccommu-
nities that contributeto a nation'sculturaldiver-
sity. None of these approacheshas examinedthe
contribution these organizations make to the
growthof social and politicalspaces and cultural
practicesthat go beyondthe boundariesof the na-
tion-state.Also not exploredby scholarsor policy
makersare the implicationsof transnationalorga-
nizationalconnectionsfor programmaticeffortsto
use immigrantorganizationsas agentsof the social
and politicalincorporationof immigrantsinto the
receivingsociety.
Each of the four immigrantpopulationswith
whichwe workedhad developedorganizationsthat
builda densenetworkof transnationalinterconnec-
tions.They organizednot just nostalgicimaginings
of the home countrybut active relationshipswith
it. These organizationalactivitiesprovideda base
upon which leaderswere able to validateor build
social and political capital in both societies.
Vincentiansand Grenadians,givena migrationhis-
tory to the U.S. that spans the twentiethcentury,
and confrontingracialbarriersbothin the past and
presentthat preventedtheir full incorporation into
the social and politicallife of the nation,have a
long history of using organizationsto maintain
transnationalinterconnections (Basch 1992; Basch
et al. 1994;Toney 1986).14The increasingtransna-
tionalactivitiesof Vincentianand Grenadianorga-
nizationsfollowing1970demonstratethe important
impact self-ruleand politicalindependencein the
West Indies.combinedwith greatlyexpandedemi-
grationto the U.S., have had on the organizingof
a multi-stranded transnationalsocial field.15
Filipinotransmigrantshave built a dense net-
work of linkages with hundredsof organizations
that stage religious,cultural,and social events in
the Philippinesas well as in the U.S. Fiestas,for
example,in townsin the Philippineshave takenon
a grandscale with the participationof Filipinoor-
ganizationsin the U.S. Some of the organizations
havedevelopednew formsof Filipinonationaliden-
tity and political action and have mediatedrela-
tionshipsbetweenthe U.S. and Philippinesgovern-
ments (Basch et al. 1994).
A surveyof the leadersof Haitian organiza-
tions in New YorkCity begunduringthe Duvalier
dictatorshipindicatedthe range of organizational
linkages that can grow up, even in a situation
wheretransnationalorganizationsare viewedwith
suspicionor activelyoppressedin the home coun-
try.'6 Not all Haitian organizationsin New York
were transnationalbut more than forty percent
were engagedin activitiesorientedat least in part
to Haiti and sixty percentsaw someof theiractivi-
ties in some way contributingto Haiti. The range
of organizationsthat operatedin a transnational
social field included Protestant and Catholic
churches,alumnaeorganizationsfromvarioushigh
schools, hometownassociations,Masonic lodges,
culturalassociations,'7 and organizationsthat saw
themselvesas a voiceof the "Haitiancommunityin
New York."These organizationssaw their mem-
bersas neithersolelypartof the U.S. nor Haiti but
ratheras connectedsimultaneouslyto both socie-
ties. To educate Haitian youth in the U.S. would
both contributeto their successas Americansand
 FROM IMMIGRANTTO TRANSMIGRANT
assist in the transformationof Haiti. After the fall
of the Duvalierregimemanyof these organizations
workedto developorganizationalbases in Haiti.
Transmigrantshave been partisansand par-
ticipantsin strugglesagainstdictatorshipsin Haiti,
the Philippines,and Grenada and have charged
their respectivegovernmentsto be responsiblefor
making democracywork. Throughorganizations,
as well as on the basisof personaltransnationalre-
lationships,transmigrantshave been able to play a
role in politicalarenasin both the U.S. and their
home countries.Key membersof the anti-Duvalier
movementin the U.S. returnedto Haiti in the
1980s and built supportfor politicaland social re-
form froma base both in Haiti and in the U.S. In
the yearsbetweenthe fall of the Duvalierregimein
1986 and the election of Aristide in 1990, candi-
dates for the Haitian legislatureand Presidency
campaignedin the U.S., Canada,and Haiti. Sev-
eral were long-timeresidentsof the U.S. Taking
the stance that they share a single destiny, Hai-
tians demonstratedin New York, Washington,
Miami, Boston, Montreal,and Port-au-Princeto
demandpoliticalchangein Haiti, to protestthe la-
belingof Haitiansas carriersof AIDS, and for the
reinstatementof Aristideas Presidentof Haiti.
Vincentianand Grenadianimmigrants,have
workedclosely with, and sometimesas representa-
tives of, their homegovernmentsto obtainU.S. ec-
onomic support.Grenadiantransmigrants,for ex-
ample, lobbiedthe U.S. governmentfor economic
assistancepromisedbut never deliveredafter the
U.S. invasion of their country and expected
throughthe CaribbeanBasin Initiative.Active in
efforts to develop agriculturaland industrialex-
ports from their home countries,Grenadianand
Vincentianmigrantshave built organizationsthat
haveworkedcloselywith theirhomecountries'con-
sulates in New York to obtain more favorable
termsof tradefor Caribbeanagriculturaland man-
ufacturedproductsbeing importedinto the U.S.
They also have been part of effortsto obtainmore
lenientimmigrationquotas.
Filipino transmigrants were a major force in
developingoppositionto the Marcosgovernmentin
the wake of deterioratingeconomicconditionsat
home and in ensuring U.S. support in toppling
Marcos.Throughtransmigrantorganizing,discus-
sion groups,speeches,and media exposure,a new
form of nationalism was created and fostered
amongtransmigrantsin the U.S. underthe leader-
ship of opponentsto the Marcosgovernment.This
57
movementtook off after the Aquinoassassination.
It lobbiedfor a new governmentand a renewalof
democracyin the Philippinesand obtainedthe col-
laborationof key U.S. Senatorsand Representa-
tives. Popularoutrage in both the U.S. and the
Philippinesat Marcos'manipulationof the Philip-
pine nationalelections,confirmedby the personal
observationsof top U.S. politicians,and accompa-
nied by the intenselobbyingof transmigrants, ulti-
matelyforcedthe Reagangovernmentto changeits
policiestowardsMarcosand to help overthrowthe
Marcosregime.The personnelof the Filipinore-
gimes that have followed,beginningwith that of
CoryAquino,havebeenfilledwith politicalplayers
whosepersonaland politicalnetworkslink them to
boththe U.S. and the Philippines.In the 1980sand
1990s increasedFilipinoeffortsto lobby the U.S.
Congressfor assistancefor the Philippinesreflecta
political terrain of dense transnational
interconnection.
These activitieshave all been spearheadedby
immigrantleaders in the U.S., acting in concert
with political actors in their home nation-states.
LamuelStanislaus,an informalleaderin the West
Indianimmigrantcommunityin Brooklyn,is an ex-
ample of how immigrantsare able to participate
in-and have an impacton-political strugglesin
both Grenadaand the U.S. A dentistto the West
Indian and African American populations in
Brooklyn,StanislausemigratedfromGrenadaover
forty-fiveyearsago to studyat HowardUniversity.
In the mid-1980she becamea key organizerof a
supportgroup comprisedof West Indian immi-
grantsin New York to re-electMayorKoch.The
membersof this organizationfelt that the then-
mayorwas cognizantof and wouldbe responsiveto
West Indianinterestsin New York.Stanislaushad
takenpartin severalmeetingswith Koch,at which
he lobbiedfor West Indianinterests.At the same
time Stanislaus, who during the last years of
Bishop'sgovernmenthad been vocal in his opposi-
tion to what he consideredto be that government's
antidemocraticpractices,headeda supportgroup
of Grenadians,locatedbothin New Yorkand Gre-
nada,to elect a successorto MauriceBishop,after
Bishopwas murderedand the U.S. invadedGre-
nada. When Stanislaus' candidate was elected
primeministerof Grenada,Stanislaushimselfwas
appointedGrenada'sambassadorto the United
Nations, althoughhe had not visited Grenadain
over forty years.
As we see fromthese examples,the abilityof
58 58 ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY--
QUARTERLY
ANTHROPOLOGICAL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~%
these transmigrants to wield political influence in
both the U.S. and their home nation-states derives
from their political incorporation in both settings.
Grassroots organizing linked to new social move-
ments as well as electoral politics take place in the
emerging transnational political arenas. While the
dominant political ethic of the U.S. continues to
demand that citizens, both native born and natural-
ized, swear allegiance only to the U.S. and define
their political identity within its borders, the trans-
nationalism of increasing numbers of its citizens
promotes new political constructions in labor-send-
ing states. Facing situations of extreme economic
impoverishment and dependency, Caribbean lead-
ers are developing constructions of their nation-
states that encompass those residing abroad as part
of their body politic. These constructions, which we
have labeled "deterritorialized nation-states"
(Basch et al. 1994) define state boundaries in so-
cial rather than geographic terms. According to
this reading of the nation-state, the borders of the
state spread globally to encompass all migrants and
their descendants wherever they may settle and
whatever legal citizenship they may have attained.
Bishop, the prime minister of Grenada during
the early 1980s, reflecting the perspective of several
West Indian political leaders, underscored the im-
portance of the immigrants to Grenada's nation
building by referring to Brooklyn as "Grenada's
largest constituency." To assure that the immi-
grants remain connected and committed to projects
at home both ideologically and financially, scores of
West Indian political leaders visit their "constitu-
encies" in the diaspora to describe their develop-
ment initiatives. In so doing they enmesh the trans-
migrants in the nation-state building processes of
West Indian nation-states.
As early as 1973 Philippines President
Marcos, and subsequently his successors, developed
a program for balikbayan ("homecomers") and be-
gan to use the term to refer to Filipino citizens and
non-citizens residing overseas. They encouraged
migrants to visit home through visa and travel fa-
cilitation and allowed for large shipments of per-
sonal effects that ultimately fed transnational im-
port-export businesses and they levied taxes on
incomes earned abroad. Government officials called
upon Filipino transmigrants to fund development
projects in the Philippines and to lobby for in-
creased U.S. aid. Filipino senators and congress-
men came to the U.S. to campaign for elected of-
fice in the Philippines.
--
This extension of the borders of the nation-
state to include transmigrant populations long set-
tled and often legally citizens of other countries
was highlighted by the political discourse of Presi-
dent Aristide of Haiti. In 1991 he designated the
Haitian diaspora Dizyem-na, the Tenth Depart-
ment of Haiti. Haiti has nine territorial divisions
called departments. By including Haitians in
whatever country they have settled as part of the
Haitian nation-state Aristide contributed to a new
construction of the postcolonial nation-state. In this
construction of Haiti as a borderless state, Haitian
territory becomes a social space that may exist
within the legal boundaries of many nation-states.'8
Haiti now exists wherever in the world Haitians
had settled. Speaking of the "bank of the dias-
pora," he offered the model of Jewish Zionism as
evidence of the productivity of this strategy in
which, in the Haitian reading, the diaspora stays
abroad but provides money and political assistance
to the "home" country (Richman 1992b).19
Aristide's construction of the Tenth Depart-
ment recognized, accepted, and made use of the
multiple embeddedness of the Haitian trans-
migrants and their participation in the political life
of the U.S. Haitian transnationalism was more
than legitimized: it was nationalized. By nationaliz-
ing transmigrants, Aristide made Haitian transna-
tionalism a political force that must be figured into
the relationship between Haiti and the other na-
tion-states in which Haitians have settled. By theo-
rizing a deterritorialized nation, leaders such as
Aristide are defining voting, lobbying, running for
office, demonstrating, building public opinion, send-
ing remittances, and maintaining other transna-
tional activities carried out in the U.S. as acts of
citizenship and expressions of loyalty to another
country.
U.S. hegemonic forces, on the other hand,
have reacted to the growing commitment of trans-
migrants to participate in the political processes of
both the U.S. and the "home society" by renewed
incorporative efforts. They have insisted that the
bottom line loyalties of Caribbean immigrants
must be to the U.S. Interviews conducted in 1986
with representatives of fifty-one philanthropies,
churches, and state agencies who worked with Hai-
tian immigrant organizations made this clear. Rep-
resentatives of U.S. organizations were explicit in
their insistence that Haitian immigrants become
U.S. citizens and give up their allegiance to Haiti.
Both implicitly through the money, technical assis-
 FROM IMMIGRANT TO TRANSMIGRANT
tance, and political connections they provided to or-
ganizations, and explicitly in the course of meet-
ings and conversations with Haitian leaders, these
representative sent a consistent message. It was
summarized by a representative of the Community
Service Society, a large philanthropic organization:
"I have problems with dual citizenship; I believe in
allegiance to one country."
Implications of Transnationalism for the Debate
on Immigration
The paradox of our times, and one that must be
central to our understanding of the identities and
dilemmas of current day immigrants is that the
"age of transnationalism" is a time of continuing
and even heightening nation-state building
processes. In the current heightening of nationalist
sentiment in a globalized economy, transnational
migration is playing a complex, significant, yet lit-
tle noted role (Miles 1993). It lies as a silent sub-
text that contributes to the actions, motivations,
and sensibilities of key players within the political
processes and debates of both states that have his-
tories of population dispersal and states that have
primarily been and continue to be recipients of
population flows. In the U.S. the debates on both
immigration and multiculturalism need to be ana-
lyzed in relationship to the efforts by dominant
forces to reconstruct national consensus and legiti-
mate state structures at the same time that they
globalize the national economy. The 1994 passage
of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs
and California's Proposition 187 that denies vital
services to undocumented immigrants are a
matched set of policy initiatives. As the national
economy is restructured to facilitate higher levels
of profit for transnational capital, politicians and
the media have projected a bunker mentality, con-
vincing the majority of the population, including
people who are themselves immigrants that the na-
tional borders have to be defended against the un-
documented. Undocumented workers are said to be
the cause of the deterioration of the infrastructure
and the lack of public services.
The strategy of U.S. hegemonic forces forming
a national consensus by depicting immigrants as an
enemies of the nation is not new. However, the par-
NOT ES
'The Filipino immigrants also did not raise the issue of
transnationalism. Even while they continue to build their trans-
national practices and networks, immigrants, very often influ-
59
ticular focus on the undocumented is worth exam-
ining for several reasons. Certainly the continuing
ability of the nation-state to punish violations of
law should not be dismissed in debates about the
demise of the nation-state. In the realm of the
withdrawal of rights to health, education, and
peace of mind, the U.S. nation-state is clearly able
to enforce a distinction between categories of be-
longing. However, it should be noted that the polit-
ical rhetoric and policies such as Proposition 187
delineate legal residents and the undocumented,
rather than native born and foreign or citizen and
non-citizen. Similarly, the special Federal Commis-
sion on Immigration Reform chaired by former
U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan does not advo-
cate halting immigration but does propose restrict-
ing undocumented immigration.
This particular emphasis on categories of le-
gality has a dual thrust. The debate is as much
about confining immigrant loyalties to the U.S. as
it is about reducing the flow of immigration. Of
course, the current national public discussion about
immigration certainly contributes to a broader
anti-immigrant hysteria that has racist underpin-
nings, with all immigrants of color finding their
presence and activities under increased scrutiny.
Concepts of "America, the white" are reinforced.
Yet at the same time, documented immigrants are
being drawn into the debate on the side of enforce-
ment, validating their right to belong but differenti-
ating themselves from other immigrants. There is a
dialectic between inclusion and exclusion that disci-
plines transnational migrants by focusing public at-
tention on the degree to which they belong in the
U.S. The current debate on immigrants in U.S. will
lead not to the effective policing of national borders
but to the reinscription of boundaries. It serves to
counter transnational identities and loyalties and
creates a terrain in which immigrants are drawn
into defending whatever they have achieved or ob-
tained by defending it against the undocumented.
They are therefore drawn into a discourse of iden-
tity that links them to the U.S. nation state as a
bounded structure of laws and institutions as well
as a defended territory. Yet none of the nation-
building processes encompasses fully the complex-
ity and multiple identities which constitute the lives
of transmigrants.
enced by the concept of "the immigrant" as uprooted, believe
that they must make a choice between their new country and
their homeland. Interactions such as these with the census or-
60
60 ANTHROPOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY
QUARTERLY
ganizersreinforcetheir belief that U.S. society wants them to
be loyal to only the U.S., so that they do not describeother
aspectsof their experiences.
2"Transnational" appearsin the titles of books, disserta-
tions, conferences,and journals(AmericanAcademyof Politi-
cal and Social Science 1986; Georges 1990; Richman 1992a;
Rouse 1989;Wakeman1988). Diasporais "a journalof trans-
nationalstudies,"Public Culturehas as its subtitlethe "Soci-
ety for TransnationalStudies,"and the statementof purposeof
Identitiesspeaks of "transnationalmovementsof population."
In 1993 transnationalconnectionsbecame a theme of the an-
nual meetingsof the AmericanEthnologicalSociety, while the
Society for CulturalAnthropologycalled for workon "transna-
tionalculture."The 1994 meetingsof the AmericanAnthropo-
logical Society contained seven sessions devoted to transna-
tional studies.
SSuttonand Mackiesky-Barrow(1992[1975]: 114) were
among the first to speak of a "transnationalsocioculturaland
politicalsystem"in which"politicaleventsat home ... had an
impact on the migrantcommunitiesabroadwhile migrantex-
perienceswere relayedin the oppositedirection."Researchers
workingwith immigrantswhose lives defy, sometimeson daily
terms, the legal constraintsof the Mexican and U.S. border,
beganto talk of "transnationalcircuits"(Rouse 1989, 1991) or
"transnationalcommunities"(Kearney 1992; Rouse n.d.). Ap-
padurai(1990, 1991) and Gupta (1992), notingthe rapidflow
of ideas and objectsas well as people,began to reimaginethe
globe as havingenteredan era of transnationalism,a position
also expressedby Rouse and Kearney.In 1989, respondingto
our call to develop a transnationalperspectiveon migration,
seven scholarsexaminedthe ramificationsof transnationalmi-
gration to the U.S. from Asia, the Caribbean,Mexico, and
Portugal,at a conferenceat the New York Academyof Sci-
ences (see Charles, Feldman-Bianco,Lessinger,Ong, Rouse,
Richman,and Wiltshirein Glick Schiller et al. 1992b).
4Thisstatementreflectsa tendencyfoundin manyscholars
influencedby postmodernismto imaginea past of unchanging
and tightly boundedcultures.
5Appadurai(1993) has made a similarpoint but does not
includemilitaryand police functions.
6Gilroy(1987) has examinedthe responseof black immi-
grant youth in Britainfrom a similar perspective.
7See Chock (forthcoming)for a critique of the way in
which texts such as the Harvard Encyclopediaof American
Ethnic Groupsshapednarrativesof immigrantsettlementand
identity.
8The intensityof earlier drives to assimilate immigrants
may actuallyhave been a reactionto the fact that immigrants
of earliergenerationsalso tended to maintaintheir home ties.
Certainlythere are glimpses in the historicalrecordof large
scale returnmigrationto Italy (Portesand Rumbaut1990) and
of political movementsin Europe, including many national
strugglesthat were transnationalin their composition(Higham
and Brooks1978).
"Bolsheviksincluding Trotsky wrote for the immigrant
pressin New Yorkand then returnedto Russiain the courseof
the revolutionto build newspapersin the Soviet Union.
I?They contributed to the reconceptualizationof the
Greek-speakingpopulationfrom a religiousmillet composedof
co-religionistswithin the OttomanEmpireto a nation with a
sharednationalcultureand its own state.
"The term "West Indies"is used to describethose coun-
tries formedfromthe Caribbeanterritoriesunderthe controlof
the Britishduringthe colonialperiod.The term "Caribbean"
has a broaderconnotation,referringto all islandstates lying in
the CaribbeanSea as well as states along the northernrim of
South America(See Basch 1987, 1992).
12Further work on Garifuna networksthat interconnect
populationsin multiplenationstates has beendoneby Macklin
(1992). Macklinidentifieda patternin which immigrantnet-
worksspanso manycountriesthat migrantsdevelopan identity
which in some ways is independentof any particularnational
territoryor history.
13See Pessar 1991 for an explicationof this theme.
"These interconnections, whichwereapparentin the early
1980s, led Basch to design a study to explorethe extent and
ramificationsof these connections.This researchwas conducted
underthe auspicesof the United Nations Institutefor Training
and Researchand was fundedby the United Nations Fundfor
PopulationActivities and the InternationalDevelopmentRe-
search Centre (Ottawa, Canada). Rosina Wiltshire,Winston
Wiltshire,and Joyce Toney were researchcollaboratorswith
Basch;their efforts were greatly aided by the researchassis-
tance of Colin Robinson,Isa Soto, and MargaretSouza.
"lTheimmigrationlegislationof 1965, and the social and
economicrelationsbetweenthe United States and the Carib-
bean that framedits enactment,greatlyliberalizedrestrictions
of West Indian immigrationthat had been in force since the
1920s.This historicmoment(1965 to 1970) was a watershedin
the expansionof the West Indian population,of West Indian
social, political,and economicactivities,and of increasingas-
sertionsof a publicWest Indianidentityin New York.Trans-
national organizationsplayed an importantrole in fostering
these intertwiningdevelopments.
16The survey, as well as a survey of U.S. organizations
that providedsupportto Haitianethnic organizingwas funded
by a grant from the National Institutefor Child Health and
Human Development(#281-40-1145) to Josh DeWind and
Nina Glick Schiller. It was developedand administeredby a
research team that included Marie Lucie Brutus, Carolle
Charles,George Fouron,and Antoine Luis Thomas.For a re-
port on some of the findings, see Glick Schiller et al.
1992[1987].
17In her researchwith Filipinoorganizationsin New York
City Szanton-Blancfounda similarrangeof organizationswith
transnationalconnections.
a"GeorgeAnglade had previouslyused the term in his
writingsbut Aristidepopularizedit. The conceptof the Tenth
Departmentstrucka resonantnote amonga numberof middle-
class Haitian immigrantsand aspiringpoliticalleaders in the
U.S., and they proceededto hold a seriesof meetingsto organ-
ize the mannerin which they wouldassist Haiti and to choose
officialrepresentativesof the Tenth Department.
'Aristide also waged a campaign to insure that when
transmigrantscame home to visit and spendtheir money,they
felt welcome. In the past personsin the diasporawere often
devalued as unauthenticopportunistswho had jumped ship.
"Diaspora"became a somewhatpejorativeterm. In contrast,
Aristidecalledon the Haitianpopulationto welcomethe trans-
migrantswho shouldreturnto Haiti not to settle but as "good
homegrownKreyoltourists"(bonjan pitit kay touris Kreyol)
and to see them not as a threat but a sourceof assistancefor
the strugglesof the Haitian people(Richman 1992).
 FROM IMMIGRANTTO TRANSMIGRANT 61

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