IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v198y2025i1d10.1007_s10551-024-05699-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Emancipation’ in Digital Nomadism vs in the Nation-State: A Comparative Analysis of Idealtypes

Author

Listed:
  • Blair Wang

    (Lero, University of Galway)

  • Daniel Schlagwein

    (The University of Sydney Business School, Australia)

  • Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic

    (UNSW Sydney Business School)

  • Michael C. Cahalane

    (UNSW Sydney Business School)

Abstract

Academic and public debate is continuing about whether digital nomadism, a new Internet-enabled phenomenon in which digital workers adopt a neo-nomadic global lifestyle, represents ‘real’ emancipation for knowledge workers—or if it is, instead, the opposite. Based on a field study of digital nomadism, and accepting a pluralist approach to emancipation, we analyse the ‘emancipatory project(s)’ that digital nomads engage in. This analysis, following Weberian idealtypes, employs a tripartite structure: unsatisfactory conditions (what people want to overcome); emancipatory means (actions taken); and emancipatory ends (desired outcomes). We critically compare digital nomadism to the traditional descriptions of emancipatory projects in nation-state contexts, as found in prior literature, using the same analytical framework. Juxtaposing these idealtypes, we discuss similarities and differences and analyse their inherent assumptions, logics and ethical stances. We conclude that digital nomadism generates an emancipation that is very much ‘real’ for digital nomads, whose experience cannot be disregarded, but with a ‘postmodern’ ethos that is at odds with modernity and its ethos originating from the Enlightenment.

Suggested Citation

  • Blair Wang & Daniel Schlagwein & Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic & Michael C. Cahalane, 2025. "‘Emancipation’ in Digital Nomadism vs in the Nation-State: A Comparative Analysis of Idealtypes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 198(1), pages 35-68, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:198:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-024-05699-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05699-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-024-05699-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-024-05699-8?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. Myron J. Frankman, 1997. "Global Taxation: A Search for Generalizable Precedents," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 641-648, June.
    2. Rose, Richard, 1981. "What if Anything is Wrong with Big Government?," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 5-36, February.
    3. Mankiw, N Gregory, 1989. "Real Business Cycles: A New Keynesian Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 79-90, Summer.
    4. Dave Cook, 2020. "The freedom trap: digital nomads and the use of disciplining practices to manage work/leisure boundaries," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 355-390, September.
    5. Lauri Laine & Ewald Kibler, 2022. "The Social Imaginary of Emancipation in Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(2), pages 393-420, March.
    6. Fabiola Mancinelli, 2020. "Digital nomads: freedom, responsibility and the neoliberal order," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 417-437, September.
    7. Goshu Desalegn & Anita Tangl & Maria Fekete-Farkas, 2022. "From Short-Term Risk to Long-Term Strategic Challenges: Reviewing the Consequences of Geopolitics and COVID-19 on Economic Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Steven A. Brieger & Siri A. Terjesen & Diana M. Hechavarría & Christian Welzel, 2019. "Prosociality in Business: A Human Empowerment Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 361-380, October.
    9. Kevin O’Rourke & Ahmed Rahman & Alan Taylor, 2013. "Luddites, the industrial revolution, and the demographic transition," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 373-409, December.
    10. Hilary Hoynes & Jesse Rothstein, 2019. "Universal Basic Income in the United States and Advanced Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 929-958, August.
    11. John Bongaarts, 2004. "Population Aging and the Rising Cost of Public Pensions," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(1), pages 1-23, March.
    12. Christopher Michaelson, 2021. "A Normative Meaning of Meaningful Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 413-428, May.
    13. Costanzo Ranci & Jason Beckfield & Laura Bernardi & Andrea Parma, 2021. "New Measures of Economic Insecurity Reveal its Expansion Into EU Middle Classes and Welfare States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 539-562, December.
    14. Max Holleran, 2022. "Pandemics and geoarbitrage: digital nomadism before and after COVID-19," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5-6), pages 831-847, November.
    15. Erin McElroy, 2020. "Digital nomads in siliconising Cluj: Material and allegorical double dispossession," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3078-3094, November.
    16. Richter, Alexander, 2020. "Locked-down digital work," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    17. Alfred L. Thimm, 1981. "How Far Should German Codetermination Go?," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 13-22, July.
    18. Wim F. Wertheim, 1992. "The State and the Dialectics of Emancipation," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 257-281, July.
    19. Jeremy Aroles & Edward Granter & François-Xavier de Vaujany, 2020. "'Becoming mainstream': the professionalization and corporatization of digital nomadism," Post-Print hal-03778348, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Linao, Patricia Aida & Heimtun, Bente & Morgan, Nigel, 2024. "Digital nomadism, gender and racial power relations," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    2. Bednorz, Jan, 2024. "Working from anywhere? Work from here! Approaches to attract digital nomads," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    3. Lacárcel, Francisco Javier S. & Huete, Raquel & Zerva, Konstantina, 2024. "Decoding digital nomad destination decisions through user-generated content," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    4. Juan Parreño-Castellano & Josefina Domínguez-Mujica & Claudio Moreno-Medina, 2022. "Reflections on Digital Nomadism in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Effect of Policy and Place," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Hakan Saraç, 2024. "Bibliometric Analysis of Publications on the Digital Nomad with VOSviewer," Journal of Social Policy Conferences, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, issue 87, pages 58-68, December.
    7. Chenrui Yang & Jun Shao & Yamin Zhao, 2024. "Post-COVID-19 Sojourn Choices: Exploring the Distribution and Preferences of Chinese Digital Nomads Based on the Lifestyle Migration Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, December.
    8. Tiberius, Victor & Chen, Nicole & Bartels, Mirko & Oelsnitz, Dietrich von der, 2024. "Breaking out! A netnography study on motives of a digital nomad lifestyle," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Lanza Queiroz, Bernardo & Lobo Alves Ferreira, Matheus, 2021. "The evolution of labor force participation and the expected length of retirement in Brazil," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    11. Adnan Haider Bukhari & Safdar Ullah Khan, 2008. "A Small Open Economy DSGE Model for Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 963-1008.
    12. Chen, Yunmin & Chien, YiLi & Wen, Yi & Yang, C.C., 2021. "Are unconditional lump-sum transfers a good idea?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    13. Felicitas NOWAK-LEHMANN D. & Inma MARTÍNEZ-ZARZOSO & Dierk HERZER & Stephan KLASEN & Axel DREHER, 2010. "Foreign Aid and Its Effect on Per-Capita Income (Growth) in Recipient Countries: Pitfalls and Findings from a Time Series Perspective," EcoMod2010 259600121, EcoMod.
    14. repec:jpe:journl:2054 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Robert Shimer, 2009. "Convergence in Macroeconomics: The Labor Wedge," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 280-297, January.
    16. J. Subrick & Andrew Young, 2010. "Nobelity and novelty: Finn Kydland and Edward Prescott’s contributions viewed from Vienna," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 35-53, March.
    17. Christopher Belanger & Samia Chreim & Silvia Bonaccio, 2024. "The Experience and Implications of Meaningless Work in the Public Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 563-578, December.
    18. Roberto Barrella & José Carlos Romero & Lucía Mariño, 2022. "Proposing a Novel Minimum Income Standard Approach to Energy Poverty Assessment: A European Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, November.
    19. Pavlina R. Tcherneva, 2008. "The Return of Fiscal Policy: Can the New Developments in the New Economic Consensus Be Reconciled with the Post-Keynesian View?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_539, Levy Economics Institute.
    20. Said Outlioua & Abdesselam Fazouane, 2023. "Which factors affect the sustainability of pension schemes?," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 89-108, February.
    21. Pu Chen, Armon Rezai, Willi Semmler, 2007. "WP 2007-8 Productivity and Unemployment in the Short and Long Run," SCEPA working paper series. 2007-8, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:198:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-024-05699-8. 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.