'You can't be two places at once' : rethinking transnationalism through Jamaican return migration

This article examines transnational social fields among returned migrants in Jamaica. Comparing the experience of return to Jamaica by individuals who migrated to England and the United States, I explore how migration dynamics shaped the possibilities and predicaments of life upon return. Despite sharing an identity as 'returning residents,' I argue that post-World War II Jamaican migrants in England who returned to Jamaica in the 1990s reestablish themselves in Jamaica by expressing a commitment to the community, such as through involvement with formal returning resident associations, whereas United States returnees continue to travel between Jamaica and the United States. These two very distinct forms of fashioning a return highlight the importance of understanding the dynamic relationship between transnational social fields and return migration and demonstrate the salience of categories such as 'return' and 'traveling' for understanding the meaning and motivation behind different forms of movement.