IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/infott/vyid10.1007_s40558-020-00174-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital nomads: freedom, responsibility and the neoliberal order

Author

Listed:
  • Fabiola Mancinelli

    (University of Barcelona)

Abstract

Digital nomads are individuals who, taking advantage of portable computing technologies and widespread Internet access, can work remotely from any location and use this freedom to explore the world. Using ethnographic and netnographic research, this article outlines this recent phenomenon, framing it into the lens of lifestyle mobilities and individualization theories. It adds to existing research by focusing on the new set of responsibilities and commitments entailed by the individualization process. In research participants’ explanations, disengaging from sedentary life enabled them to express an ethos of freedom, in which minimalism, uncertainty and risk replace material accumulation, stability and comfort. It is important however to pay attention to the structural constraints within which their ethos of freedom operates. The aim of the article is twofold: on one hand, it contrasts digital nomads’ sociocultural imaginaries of (in)mobility with the specific economic strategies they use to sustain their continuous mobility, including geoarbitrage and the commodification of network capital. On the other, it provides fresh ethnographic evidence on how digital nomads’ self-realization project meets the ideology of entrepreneurialism, allowing them to take advantage of privileged nationalities to navigate the global inequalities of the capitalist system. The article argues that, rather than a challenge to the system, digital nomadism is an opportunistic adaptation to neoliberal impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabiola Mancinelli, 0. "Digital nomads: freedom, responsibility and the neoliberal order," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infott:v::y::i::d:10.1007_s40558-020-00174-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s40558-020-00174-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40558-020-00174-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40558-020-00174-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fran Martin, 2017. "Rethinking network capital: hospitality work and parallel trading among Chinese students in Melbourne," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 890-907, November.
    2. Scott A. Cohen & Tara Duncan & Maria Thulemark, 2015. "Lifestyle Mobilities: The Crossroads of Travel, Leisure and Migration," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 155-172, April.
    3. Kannisto, Päivi, 2016. "Extreme mobilities: Challenging the concept of ‘travel’," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 220-233.
    4. Fleura Bardhi & Giana M. Eckhardt & Eric J. Arnould, 2012. "Liquid Relationship to Possessions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(3), pages 510-529.
    5. Robert Stebbins, 1997. "Lifestyle as a generic concept in ethnographic research," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 347-360, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Johanna Lilius & Dimitris Balampanidis, 2020. "“Live Like a Lifelong Tourist”? The Contradicting Realities of Finnish Offshore Service Workers in Athens," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 177-188.
    2. Ulrike Gretzel & Matthias Fuchs & Rodolfo Baggio & Wolfram Hoepken & Rob Law & Julia Neidhardt & Juho Pesonen & Markus Zanker & Zheng Xiang, 2020. "e-Tourism beyond COVID-19: a call for transformative research," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 187-203, June.
    3. Inge Hermann & Cody Morris Paris, 2020. "Digital Nomadism: the nexus of remote working and travel mobility," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 329-334, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabiola Mancinelli, 2020. "Digital nomads: freedom, responsibility and the neoliberal order," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 417-437, September.
    2. Michaud, Patrick & Beauregard, Eric & Proulx, Jean, 2022. "Criminal nomadism: A neglected dimension of spatial mobility in sex offending," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Ilaria Zambon & Luca Salvati, 2019. "Residential Mobility At Older Ages In Europe And The Regional Context: A Brief Commentary," Romanian Journal of Regional Science, Romanian Regional Science Association, vol. 13(2), pages 26-41, DECEMBER.
    4. Light, Duncan & Brown, Lorraine, 2020. "Dwelling-mobility: A theory of the existential pull between home and away," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Karin Brondino-Pompeo, 2021. "Mapping spheres of exchange: a multidimensional approach to commoditization and singularization," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(1), pages 81-95, June.
    6. Alisa Minina & Jonas Holmqvist, 2021. "Liquid, Solid and In-Between: Service Relationships in Global Mobility," Working Papers 2021-005, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    7. Henkel, Laura & Toporowski, Waldemar, 2021. "Hurry up! The effect of pop-up stores’ ephemerality on consumers’ intention to visit," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    8. Francisco Javier Lacarcel & Raquel Huete, 2023. "Digital communication strategies used by private companies, entrepreneurs, and public entities to attract long-stay tourists: a review," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 691-708, June.
    9. Pilar Rojas Gaviria, 2012. "Three essays on how sharing and consuming support home place reconnection in contemporary liquid times," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/209597, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    10. Masset, Julie & Decrop, Alain, 2016. "“God, I have so many ashtrays!” Dependences and dependencies in consumer–possession relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 94-109.
    11. Frétigny, Jean-Baptiste & Lin, Weiqiang, 2021. "Changing geographies of the passenger: Heterogeneous subjects on the move," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Alain Debenedetti & Harmen Oppewal & Zeynep Arsel, 2014. "Place Attachment in Commercial Settings: A Gift Economy Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(5), pages 904-923.
    13. Wu, Yue-Fang & Hannam, Kevin & Xu, Hong-Gang, 2018. "Reconceptualising home in seasonal Chinese tourism mobilities," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 71-80.
    14. Mikkel Nøjgaard & Cristiano Smaniotto & Søren Askegaard & Ciprian Cimpan & Dmitry Zhilyaev & Henrik Wenzel, 2020. "How the Dead Storage of Consumer Electronics Creates Consumer Value," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
    15. Biraghi, Silvia & Gambetti, Rossella & Pace, Stefano, 2018. "Between tribes and markets: The emergence of a liquid consumer-entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 392-402.
    16. Donald R. Lehmann & Jeffrey R. Parker, 2017. "Disadoption," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 7(1), pages 36-51, June.
    17. Rita Klapper & Paul Upham & Kalevi Kurronen, 2018. "Social Capital, Resource Constraints and Low Growth Communities: Lifestyle Entrepreneurs in Nicaragua," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-15, October.
    18. Alisa Minina, 2016. "Consumption of financial services : Developing a conceptual framework," Post-Print hal-04325626, HAL.
    19. Dey, Bidit L. & Nasef, Youssef Tarek & Brown, David M & Samuel, Lalnunpuia & Singh, Pallavi & Apostolidis, Chrysostomos, 2023. "(Im)migrants’ appropriation of culture: Reciprocal influence of personal and work contexts," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    20. Castilhos, Rodrigo B. & Fonseca, Marcelo J., 2016. "Pursuing upward transformation: The construction of a progressing self among dominated consumers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 6-17.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:infott:v::y::i::d:10.1007_s40558-020-00174-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.