Contribution short abstract:

Focusing on practices of un/commoning mobilities and contemporary Chuukese ways of being and belonging, the paper critically engages with common ideas of the transnational space between Chuuk and the US.

Contribution long abstract:

The Micronesian State of Chuuk (FSM) and the US are historically entangled in various types of transborder and transnational mobilities of people, goods, information, tastes, ideas of morality, and money. Mobility is not only integral to Chuukese sociality, it is also the foundation for remittances of all kinds which have been shaping Chuukese commonality and ways of belonging over decades. Yet, this ethnographically-driven paper illustrates that the ideal of communalism is increasingly challenged by Chuukese migrants’ individual aspirations and ambitions. This is evident, for example, during elections, when specific financial support is directed towards specific voting behavior. More generally, younger Chuukese migrants increasingly question their relatives’ taken for granted attitude related to financial expectations and move towards alternative ways of being and belonging. This paper highlights how, along im/material expectations and aspirations, deliberations on possible benefits of un/commoning shape the current transnational space that connect Chuuk and the US. In a broader sense, the paper contributes towards a more balanced discussion on ideas of mobilities and diaspora in Oceania.