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Migration from the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique to mainland France has received relatively little investigation, since it has usually been left out of the history of immigration to France. This is principally due to the fact that the islands are part of the French territory. Yet analysis of the specific position of French Caribbean women and men during the 1950s and 1970s ( i.e. the period of « labour migration ») both within French migration policy and in the labour market of the mainland reveals interactions between various types of social relations. Using a combination of statistical data, archives and biographic interviews, this article aims to describe the interplay of these social relations and their impact on social and occupational outcomes for the migrants. A comparative look at the British context of Caribbean migration throws added light on gender and ethnicized/« race » relations in a post-colonial migration context.