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“I Felt Confined”: narratives of ambivalence among Dutch lifestyle migrants in rural Sweden
Örebro University, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.
(English)Manuscript (preprint) (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Within the context of lifestyle migration, this chapter describes and analyses the motives of a group of affluent Western migrants in the rural Swedish municipality of Hällefors...

...The Dutch seem to prefer rural and sparsely populated areas over urban areas (Eimermann et al. 2012).Against this background, the study at hand focuses in particular on one rural Swedish municipality: Hällefors. The aim of this chapter is to examine the migration process of Dutch lifestyle migrants in Hällefors and their ambivalent attitudes towards returning, and thereby to give voice to the hope, pain, nostalgia, and triumph of lives lived in other places (King et al.1995). Consequently, the empirical question is as follows: “After migrating to Hällefors, what influences the Dutch households’ attitude towards returning?” This question is addressed through narratives of Dutch migrant households, gathered during fieldwork in 2011.

National Category
Human Geography
Research subject
Social and Economic Geography
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-32231OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-32231DiVA, id: diva2:661656
Note

This paper is published http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-100686

The fieldwork for this study was funded by the Swedish Society forAnthropology and Geography (SSAG; Svenska Sällskapet för Antropologi och Geografi). Iam grateful for the hospitality and enthusiasm of the migrants who participated in this study.Many thanks go to commentators on previous drafts, especially to Associate Professor IreneMolina (Uppsala University).

Available from: 2013-11-04 Created: 2013-11-04 Last updated: 2017-10-17Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. There and back again?: Dutch lifestyle migrants moving to rural Sweden in the early 21st century.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>There and back again?: Dutch lifestyle migrants moving to rural Sweden in the early 21st century.
2013 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This thesis has a twofold aim. First, it studies motivations and decision processes of Dutch families moving to rural Sweden, with a focus on Hällefors municipality in the Bergslagen area. Second, it explores how this migration flow can be conceptualised within migration theory. The results of the study are presented in four papers.

The migrants’ characteristics are explored using variables from the Bergslagen Database. This is complemented with data from interviews with municipality officials, project leaders and Dutch families in rural Sweden.The theoretical framework consists of literature on counterurbanisation, the creative class thesis and lifestyle migration. The creative class thesis has inspired many rural place marketing projects and efforts to attract the ‘right type’ of people to stimulate rural development. Based on the interview study, I argue that lifestyle migration research offers most apt insights into the act of migration within the wider life trajectories of these Dutch families.

The thesis offers new empirical data that suggest amendments to be made to the academic definition of lifestyle migration. Additional contributions consider the novel geographic direction of the migration flow (northwards), the destination (a deprived area) and the structure framing the decision process; a local authority and its deliberate attempts to attract new residents from abroad. The findings suggest transcending four binaries. First, in the context of an integrating EU, the thesis adds international dimensions to the initial story of internal counterurbanisation. Second, these flexibly mobile families transcend and combine issues of urbanity and rurality through access- facilitating technology and cheap means of long distance transport. Third, this study reiterates the importance of production as a complement to consumption in lifestyle migration research. Finally, the thesis adds dynamic issues of transience to the static permanent-temporary binary of migration.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Örebro: Örebro universitet, 2013. p. 101
Series
Örebro Studies in Human Geography ; 8
Keywords
lifestyle migration, international counterurbanisation, creative class, place marketing, Emigration Expo, Bergslagen Database, interview study, Dutch families, rural Sweden, 21st century
National Category
Human Geography
Research subject
Social and Economic Geography
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-30756 (URN)978-91-7668-968-4 (ISBN)
Public defence
2013-11-08, Hörsal M, Musikhögskolan, Örebro universitet, Fakultetsgatan 1, 701 82 Örebro, 10:00
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2013-09-09 Created: 2013-09-09 Last updated: 2017-10-17Bibliographically approved

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