ABSTRACT

Several aspects of the Marcus Garvey story provide the broad outline by which to illustrate not only British West Indian migration to the US but also the socio-cultural area and its multidimensional system of status. Patterson argues that in Caribbean societies, migration 'dominates and defines the social structure' and has created a 'model personality syndrome devoid of trust and seemingly incapable of compromise'. The problem with the M. G. Smith and Orlando Patterson type critiques is that they present no alternatives to the culture of migration. Since this culture is today a recognized West Indian - indeed, a Caribbean-wide - reality, it has to be incoiporated into any policy recommendations on development. The position implicitly accepts the idea that there is a linear relationship between levels of development and numbers of migrants. Illegal migration will probably increase but in terms of West Indian development it will be the loss of skilled and technical people which will hurt the West Indies most.