It is not the boundaries of the nation-state but the processes, symbols and meanings within it that are the defining terms in which transnational processes are played out. Indeed that theme was one of the key arguments made by Crang, Dwyer and Jackson (2003:445) in combination with Barcham, Scheyvens, and Overton (2007). The illustrations chosen for this chapter help to confirm these defining elements. The strong connections between family members and the high standard of personal obligation to cultural practices draw I-Kiribati seafarers to live in or to return to their home country. It is these complex networks of communication and remittance flows that enable and sustain interactions between shipboard and home communities and even though initiated by individuals that ultimately connect seafarers with their home countries.

This chapter has discussed the importance of shifting away from strictly confined geographical space and national borders to a new concept of transnationalism embracing liminal space that includes different dimensions, such as the maritime and mobile space of shipboard communities, and focuses on families and communities as key units of analysis. Nation states remain still significant in terms of a mutual idea of homeland, as the example of Kiribati could show, but the emphasis lies on connections to families and places, and the complexities and multi-dimensions of how these connections are lived. A new concept of analysis also must still include the geographical and political history of Oceania, and the history of employer/employee relationships that are increasingly affected by global forces. This concept will then include clearly the history of Kiribati and Tuvalu that have been linked by seafaring for half a century. The shipping industry, both serving as an end and as a means for transport of goods and people, is truly a global force. We may conclude that processes within the Tuvaluan and I-Kiribati culture, and a long history of family obligations have built the well functioning networks between seafarers and their home countries that have led to increasing opportunities to participate in such a global system, yet retain the crucial values of home and keep these intact over time.