ABSTRACT
Although the questions and the interviewing approach for the research remained the same for men and women, and although each account had its unique imprint of style and presentation, important similarities and distinctions emerged in the narrative structure of the responses of the men and women. It is these differences that are explored in this chapter. And male or female, the decision to go, the logistics of leaving were not isolated, individual events but the result of collective action. Many of the men who migrated had already experienced migration, principally to the United States. Contrary to economic models which present migrant motivation as the individual rational pursuit of improved employment opportunities, these informants offered a range of motivations, of which making money was only one. Indeed, most were deskilled on arrival in Britain. There was an expectation and a pattern of return, albeit one in many cases of coming and going.
