Permanent or temporary homes? Investigating the discourses of lifestyle migration, lifestyle mobilities and multilingualism within a Norwegian context

Kellie Gonçalves & Kristin Vold Lexander
University of Bern | Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Questions surrounding mobility and migration are often connected to matters of language, citizenship, socio-economic status and class that are inherently unequal between developed and less-developed nation states. Scholars of geography and demographics have conceptualized both internal and external/international migration with “push” and “pull” factors as salient reasons for mobility. Traditional causes of external migration and so-called “push factors” include conflict, natural disaster, economic collapse, war, and transformations of socio-political systems as well as more promising employment options and decent incomes as contributing factors to external migration (Gonçalves & Schluter, 2020, p. 3). Such “forced moves” affect largely disadvantaged populations that are at risk (i.e. asylum seekers, refugees, victims of human trafficking) (Castles, 2003). For individuals engaging in lifestyle migration and lifestyle mobilities and considered voluntary migration, their life circumstances are extremely different in that they are often equipped with “privileged preconditions” (Mancinelli, 2020, p. 419) as “nomads from affluence” (Cohen, 1973) including for the most part, education, specialized skills, high standards of living and favorable visa regimes of their home countries (primarily in the West). These factors facilitate a range of choices in terms of where they travel to (i.e. place), also known as network capital, the kind of work they engage in and the rate of their mobility. Based on years of ethnographic work, in this paper, we investigate the different dimensions and discourses of lifestyle migration and lifestyle mobilities, both of which we argue presents a new trajectory and venue to explore within the field of migration linguistics (Borlongan, 2023). By focusing on two different case studies within Norway, we also draw on the notion of mediational repertoires (Lexander & Androutsopolous, 2021) as part of the communicative ecology in which jobs are found and where communication takes place among different types of migrants and their new permanent or temporary homes.

Publication history

Date received: 15 October 2023

Date accepted: 1 December 2023

Published online: 15 February 2024

Table of contents

New forces of globalization and neoliberalism present innovative opportunities and different meaning to individuals and their practices, one of which is geographic mobility for reasons of employment. Questions surrounding mobility and migration are often connected to matters of citizenship, socio-economic status and class that are inherently unequal between developed and less-developed nation states. Scholars of geography and demographics have conceptualized both internal and external/international migration with “push” and “pull” factors as salient reasons for mobility. Traditional causes of external migration and so-called “push factors” include conflict, natural disaster, economic collapse, war, and transformations of socio-political systems as well as more promising employment options and decent incomes as contributing factors to external migration (Gonçalves & Schluter, 2020 p. 3). Such “forced moves” affect largely disadvantaged populations that are at risk (i.e. asylum seekers, refugees, victims of human trafficking) (Castles, 2003). For individuals engaging in lifestyle migration and lifestyle mobilities, both of which are considered voluntary migration, their life circumstances are extremely different in that they are often equipped with “privileged preconditions” (Mancinelli, 2020, p. 419) as “nomads from affluence” (Cohen, p. 1973) including for the most part, education, specialized skills, high standards of living and favorable visa regimes of their home countries (primarily in the West), all of which facilitate a range of choices in terms of where they travel to (i.e. place), resonating with accrued network capital (Cohen & Gössling, 2015; Gonçalves, 2020a) that is inextricably tied to aspects of mobility, social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984) regardless of the kind of work they engage in.

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