Joan Phillips

Both black and symbolically white : The 'Bajan-Brit' return migrant as post-colonial hybrid

Abstract The research presented in this article centres on an under-researched demographic group of young return migrants, namely, second-generation Barbadians, or ‘Bajan-Brits’, who have decided to ‘return’ to the birthplace of their parents. Based on 51 in-depth interviews, the essay examines the experiences of second-generation return migrants from an interpretative perspective framed within post-colonial discourse. The article first considers the Bajan-Brits and issues of race in the UK before their decision to migrate. It is then demonstrated that on ‘return’, in certain respects, these young, black English migrants occupy a liminal position of cultural, racial and economic privilege, based on their ‘symbolic’ or ‘token’ whiteness within the post-colonial context of Barbados. But this very hybridity and inbetweeness means that they also face difficulties and associated feelings of social alienation and discrimination. The ambivalent status of this transnational group of migrants serves to challenge traditional notions of Barbadian racial identity.

Teenage pregnancies that end in abortion: what can they tell us about contraceptive risk-taking?

Background and methodology In 1999, the Government set the ambitious target of halving the number of under-18 conceptions by 2010. It is now clear that this target will not be met. Much media and policy attention has been paid to teenage mothers, and yet approximately 50% of teenage conceptions end in abortion not motherhood. In London, where the present research was based, the percentage is significantly higher. The research into teenage abortion and repeat abortion, though based in London, generated insights that could potentially help different areas reduce the number of under-18 conceptions ending in abortion. A qualitative research methodology was adopted and a wide range of interviews were conducted with young women, and professionals, in 10 London primary care trusts. Results Our analysis adds to a substantial body of qualitative research that points to the complexity of sexual decision-making for young women. Contraceptive risk-taking was evident as some young women spoke of the difficulties they experienced with user-dependent methods (primarily the condom and the pill) in often unplanned, sexual encounters. They were also generally poorly informed about different contraceptive methods. Misunderstandings about fertility also emerged as an important issue that can lead young women to draw the wrong conclusions if they do not become pregnant following unprotected sex. Conclusions Young people need improved access to, and informed understanding of, the full range of contraceptive methods available to them. In addition, efforts should be made to enable young women to have a better understanding of their own likely fertility.

The past is still right here in the present: second-generation Bajan-Brit transnational migrants' views on issues relating to race and colour class

This paper deals with second-generation Barbadians or ‘Bajan-Brits’, who have decided to ‘return’ to the birthplace of their parents, focusing on their reactions to matters relating to race relations and racialised identities. The importance of race and the operation of the ‘colour-class’ system in the Caribbean are established at the outset. Based on fifty-two qualitative in-depth interviews, the paper initially considers the positive things that the second-generation migrants report about living in a majority black country and the salience of such racial affirmation as part of their migration process. The paper then presents an analysis of the narratives provided by the Bajan-Brits concerning their reactions to issues relating to race relations in Barbadian society. The impressions of the young returnees provide clear commentaries on what are regarded as (i) the ‘acceptance of white hegemony’ within Barbadian society, (ii) the occurrence of de facto ‘racial segregation’, (iii) perceptions of the ‘existence of apartheid’, and (iv) ‘the continuation of slavery’. The account then turns to the contemporary operation of the colour-class system. It is concluded that, despite academic arguments that the colour-class dimension has to be put to one side as the principal dimension of social stratification in the contemporary Caribbean, the second-generation migrants are acutely aware of the continued existence and salience of such gradations within society. Thus, the analysis not only serves to emphasise the continued importance of racial-based stratification in the contemporary Caribbean, but also speaks of the ‘hybrid’ and ‘in-between’ racialised identities of the second-generation migrants.

Questions of Friendship and Degrees of Transnationality among Second-Generation Return Migrants to Barbados

While the academic literature has demonstrated the importance of social networks in relation to the process of migration, investigations have rarely examined in detail the personal–social adjustment issues that migrants and return migrants face. This study examines the context and types of friendship pattern that young return migrants from Britain cultivate in Barbados. The research centres on a wholly under-researched demographic group—young return migrants or second-generation Barbadians who have decided to return to the birthplace of their parents. The investigation is based on 51 in-depth interviews carried out with these young returnees to Barbados. Presenting a taxonomy of friendship types, it is argued that, for the ‘Bajan-Brits’ under study, the cultivation of new friendships is highly problematic. The research identifies what we refer to as the ‘insular transnational’, the ‘we are different’ and the ‘all-inclusive transnational’ friendship types among the young returnees. Our analysis also shows that problems of friendship are highly gendered, with females reporting the most problems due to what is perceived as sexual and workplace competition. It is stressed that these circumstances exemplify the essentially ‘hybrid’, ‘liminal’ and ‘in-between’ positionality of these second-generation migrants within contemporary Barbadian society.

‘Rubbing Along with the Neighbours’ — Everyday Interactions in a Diverse Neighbourhood in the North of England

Following disturbances in northern cities of the UK in the summer of 2001, investigations suggested that tensions amongst different ethnic groups were a key factor (Home Office Community Cohesion Unit 2002). In this context community relationships have come under greater scrutiny, with particular emphasis on the role of ethnicity and the meanings and values attached to national identity and ‘integration’. The aftermath of the 2001 disturbances generated a new emphasis in policy with respect to promoting ‘social (and community) cohesion’. Earlier policy discourses around multiculturalism, which emphasised difference and diversity, were said to have gone too far in challenging the notion of a British collective identity, and had presented problems for the ‘integration’ of new communities. The promotion of a stronger sense of community along with greater community involvement, particularly in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods, has become an important strand of current government thinking, infusing policy and strategy across a range of departments (Phillips 2006; Hudson et al. 2007). This paper seeks to engage in this debate about the relationship between everyday interactions and community cohesion, by exploring the everyday lives of residents in a diverse neighbourhood where established and new communities are living side by side.