A passage to England : Barbadian Londoners speak of home / John Western ; foreword by Robert Coles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Western, John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

West Indians--England--London--Social life and customs.

West Indians.

Barbados--Emigration and immigration.

Barbados.

Barbados--Social life and customs.

London (England)--Race relations.

London (England).

Physical Description:

xxii, 314 p. : ill., maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c1992.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since World War II London has become a significantly multiracial city. Some of the earliest agents of its transformation were young men and women recruited in the late 1950s from Barbados, then a British colony, to work in the metropolis's nationalized public transportation system and in its hospitals. These Barbadians met, married, settled in London, and raised Londoner children. In 1987-88 John Western conducted a series of interviews with twelve such families--both parents and children. Their vivid words fill A Passage to England with insight, human, and, often, poignancy. Here is a rich perspective on thirty years or more of London social history. Western structured the interviews to allow the Barbadians a lot of freedom to discuss whatever came to mind concerning either their own life histories and achievements, or wider themes of culture, politics, and society. Topics covered range from matters of "race" to Margaret Thatcher and the change her decade in power has wrought in Britain. One development, for example, is the strikingly entrepreneurial spirit now embraced by some of the young British blacks, veritably "Mrs. Thatcher's Children." Ultimately, many of the interviewees focused on the changes they see in their ancestral island in the Caribbean, to which all of them have returned for visits. For this migrant generation especially, as the prospect of retirement begins to grow increasingly important, inevitable questions regard the definitions of "home" and "belonging" must be confronted: Does one stay in London--with one's children and grandchildren--or does one return to Barbados, which for many seems no longer the same island as the one they left a working lifetime ago? Within the context of an ever-increasing complement of geographically mobile people worldwide, Western's study provides unique insights into the particular ambiguities a particular set of person have wrestled with at a particular moment in history...but the import of the Barbadian Londoners' story is universal.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations

Foreword

Preface

The Barbadian Londoners

One: Transatlantic Homes

Two: The Island Relinquished

Three: The Island Attained: Newcomers to England

Four: A Roof Over My Head . . .

Five: . . . And Bread on the Table: Employment

Six: Making It: From Flat Rental to Home Ownership

Seven: Valued People, Valued Places

Eight: British-Raised: A Profile

Nine: The Island Reconsidered

Ten: England Reconsidered

Eleven: Identity

Twelve: Home

Thirteen: Islands and Insularities

Epilogue

Appendix

Notes

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-308) and index.

ISBN:

0-8166-8399-9

0-8166-1985-9

OCLC:

567827822