From ‘fish out of water’ to ‘fitting in’: the challenge of re‐placing home in a mobile world

Abstract

Recent academic arguments in transnational and mobility studies have emphasised fl uid and fl exible understandings of concepts such as place and home. This paper, however, will argue that the desire to fi x home with particular meaning by attaching it to place is still apparent even for highly mobile migrants, and seeks to explore why this is the case. Using data from qualitative research with a group of highly mobile Australian transnational professionals working in Asia, the paper elaborates on social, material, and imaginative home-making strategies utilised to re-place home, regarded as a space of comfort and cultural fi t. These strategies were ultimately a means by which expatriates managed affective responses to difference that were generated in new cultural contexts that challenged subjective understandings of identity. The paper concludes that mobility does not necessarily equate with relinquishing connections between home and place, but complex belonging to 'bits' of multiple homes for particular participants was also evident.

Lifestyle Mobilities: The Crossroads of Travel, Leisure and Migration

“…In her research on highly mobile individuals, Butcher (2010) argues there is still a 'need' for home, even if this home becomes multi-sited. She suggests that being a 'global citizen' does not negate the need to 'feel the ground beneath their feet' and as such to have somewhere (or many places) that can be called home (ibid, p. 34).…”

Ageing Migrants and the Creation of Home: Mobility and the Maintenance of Transnational Ties

“…This aspect has been emphasised in studies examining the meanings that migrants attach to home at different geographical scales, highlighting the de‐territorialisation of belonging and attachments (Appadurai, ). At the same time, the desire to fix home with particular meanings by attaching it to an immediate locale is still apparent even for highly mobile transnational migrants (Butcher, ). Ralph and Staeheli () make the point that there has been a tendency to overemphasise the shifting and mobile meanings of home, while underplaying migrants' struggles in, and attachments to, their current home.…”

The boundaries of transnationalism: the case of assisted voluntary return migrants

“…The study showed that, while interpersonal and symbolic ties with the host country did not lead to the development of transnational practices or the circulation of remittances, they did have a highly important symbolic and emotional value. This is because, first, these ties meet the respondents' strong need and desire to retain a connection with a place and community of which they had once felt a part and from which their return has now separated them (Butcher 2010;Coutin 2000;Drothbom 2011;Pedersen 2003;Weiss 2005). Second, their experiences of transnational belonging are important because they may function as meaningful symbolic capital, as proof of their migration experience and of their ties with Belgium.…”