Ethnic identity, transience and settlement
The Kru in Liverpool since the late nineteenth century
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11445337 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Diana Frost (0000-0003-0135-8648, California Maritime Academy, corresponding author), Diane Frost |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 88-106 |
| Publication date | 1993-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Immigrants & Minorities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0261-9288 • E-ISSN: 1744-0521 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02619288.1993.9974820 |
| OpenAlex | W2059553717 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 9 |
Kru migrants in Liverpool represent in several ways a unique group of immigrant workers. First, they were ‘twice migrants’, having migrated from their original homeland in eastern Liberia to Sierra Leone before coming to Liverpool. Secondly, they retained a transient status because, as seafarers their constant contact with Freetown meant they retained a firm grasp on the possibility of return even after they had settled. Kru transience manifest itself through the perpetuation of a Kru ethnic identity and through their relationships with local women. Continuing commitments to both their wives and home in Freetown meant that such relationships were often short‐term or common law. Those Kru who did make the shift in status from transient seamen to settlers perpetuated their Kru ethnic identity, since this served as a defence mechanism against their marginal status, and the hostility meted out by white society. Settlement in Liverpool bestowed on the Kru ‘dual membership’ of both British society, through the realm of work and marriage, as well as membership of a parallel African enclave through recreation and community. The perpetuation of a Kru ethnic identity in the face of apparent ‘assimilation’ places the Kru experience with those of other migrant groups that have settled in Britain
Art · Endogamy · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Geography · Identity (music · Political science · Settlement (finance · Sierra leone · Sociology · Anthropology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · History · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 1998 - 2025 (28) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |