ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the apparently paradoxical transformation taking place in Belize. It argues that this process is linked to the institutionalization of particular patterns of labor migration to the United States, which have, in effect, created a "transnational community" that is "neither here nor there," but simultaneously in both places. The chapter focuses on the gendered nature of Garifuna migration to Los Angeles—is on the "micro" level of the personal experiences and actions of the Garifuna themselves, people actively building new lives for themselves in the face of changing global macrostructural circumstances. It also focuses on how the "multistranded" personal networks of women migrants is changing Garifuna families and parenting, and making major impacts on communities back "home" in Belize. The Garifuna are essentially a product of European colonial expansion into the Caribbean. Garifuna in Los Angeles describe the 1960s and the early 1970s as a boom period for immigrants of both sexes seeking work in the city.
