ABSTRACT
Migration, travel, and transnational production have defined the Caribbean region since its inception as a terrain of colonial conquest more than 300 years ago. Indeed, one could argue that they have been integral to the region’s development strategies. From the forced movements of slaves and indentured labour to voluntary moves of adventurers and fortune seekers and continuous circulation of people within and outside the region, flux has as much defined Caribbean livelihood as stasis. This paper addresses the relationship between movement and rootedness, transnationalism and locality, by turning its attention to a legendary Caribbean figure, the ‘higgler’. A ‘higgler’ in the Caribbean context is defined as a market intermediary, a buyer and seller of produce and goods who typically purchased these in small quantities from rural growers and sold them in the town marketplace. Traditionally, she travelled back and forth between country and town, buying and selling agricultural produce for manufactured and imported goods, and, in turn, making these commodities available in rural areas. The country higgler has been a powerful figure in Afro-Caribbean history, most often depicted as a woman who embodies local economic ingenuity and female independence.
