Caribbean exodus and the world system.

A historical overview of migratory patterns is presented for the Caribbean as a whole beginning with the importation of slaves in the seventeenth century. "The...review suggests a number of specific hypotheses for interpreting the historical structural and cultural roots of the recent and continuing exodus from the Caribbean. The forces involved in the Caribbean migration system may be classified by: (1) the historical period in which they emerged; (2) the extent to which they concern jobs wages and other market forces as opposed to cultural and ideological factors; and (3) their location: do they respond mainly to push factors in the Caribbean or to pull factors abroad? Some major elements in such a schema and how they vary across four historical periods are outlined...." (EXCERPT)