‘‘Mad Dogs and Transnational Migrants?’’ Bajan-Brit Second-Generation Migrants and Accusations of Madness Robert B. Potter and Joan Phillips Department of Geography, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading Second-generation British-Barbadians (‘‘Bajan-Brits’’) returning to the land of their parents are frequently ac- cused by indigenous Barbadian nationals of being mad. Narratives of the migrants reflect four major sets of factors: (1) madness as perceived behavioral and cultural differences; (2) explanations that relate to the his- torical-clinical circumstances surrounding the incidence of mental ill health among first-generation West Indian migrants to the United Kingdom; (3) madness as a pathology of alienation that is attendant on living in Bar- bados; and (4) madness as ‘‘othering,’’ ‘‘outing,’’ and ‘‘fixity.’’ British second-generation ‘‘returning nationals’’ to the Caribbean, living as they do in the plural world of the land of their parents’ birth, after having been raised in the colonial ‘‘Mother Country,’’ exhibit hybridity and in-betweenness. Accusations of madness serve to fix the position of these young migrants outside the mainstream of indigenous Barbadian society. Our analysis invokes recent postcolonial writings dealing with ‘‘strange encounters’’ to theorize that the madness accusation serves to ‘‘other’’ the young Bajan-Brit migrants in a strongly postcolonial context. Key Words: Barbados, madness, othering, second-generation migrants, transnationalism. T his research is based on an analysis of the nar- ratives provided by second-generation transna- tional British-Barbadian (‘‘Bajan-Brit’’) migrants to the land of their parents, who reported that indige- nous Barbadians frequently accuse them of being mad. The subjects of this study are British-born, predomi- nantly black West Indians who, having been brought up in the colonial white ‘‘Mother Country,’’ have chosen to ‘‘return to’’ the numerically majority black country of their parents’ birth. It is perhaps not surprising, there- fore, that they are seen, and often see themselves, as existing between two worlds and that the accusation of madness appears to serve to fix them in hybrid, plural, and in-between social spaces. What is surprising, how- ever, is that the accusation seems to be leveled almost exclusively at British ‘‘returnees,’’ and not at those from the United States or Canada. The liminal, hybrid, and in-between positionality and experiences of these second-generation transnational migrants is something that we have written about with respect to the ways in which issues relating to race, color- class, gender, and friendship patterns affect them (Potter and Phillips 2002, 2006; Phillips and Potter 2003, 2005, forthcoming; Potter, Conway and Phillips 2005). Turning to the wider literature, although migration is frequently interpreted in terms of life-cycle factors (Rossi 1955; Boyle, Halfacree, and Robinson 1998), relatively few geographical studies have focused directly on the im- plications and impact of factors such as stress, mental ill-health, and accusations of madness as part of the mobility process. Parr (1997, 1999) argues that there has been a general neglect of mental health issues in critical geography as well as of the complex relations existing between madness and identity (see also Parr and Philo 1995; Wolch and Philo 2000; Philo and Parr 2004). This lack is particularly interesting in the context of Carib- bean-related migration, because of the frequently-made assertion by organizations such as Mind that African- Caribbean people are overrepresented in psychiatric in- stitutions (Reid-Galloway 2002) as a direct result of the multiple and cumulative disadvantages they face, to- gether with the direct impacts of racism (see also Bagley 1991; Pelle 1996; Harrison 1998). For example, Mind reports (Reid-Galloway 2002) that African-Caribbean people in the United Kingdom are three to five times more likely than white people to be admitted to hospital with a first diagnosis of schizophrenia (Bagley 1991; see also Western 1992). It is important to emphasize that it is not the actual occurrence or existence of madness that is being dealt with here but, rather, accusations of madness that are leveled at these migrants in everyday contexts by members of the Barbadian public. In this sense, madness is being defined in behavioral terms, and not as an illness Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 96(3), 2006, pp. 586–600 r 2006 by Association of American Geographers Initial submission, March 2004; revised submissions, April, June, and September 2005; final acceptance, September 2005 Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, U.K.