Contrary to popular assumption, most Britons living in the EU27 aren't retirees

There is a popular assumption that the majority of Britons living in the rest of the EU are pensioners, who have exercised their treaty rights to reside in another EU member state postretirement. In fact, 80% of the UK citizens who have made their homes and lives in the EU27 are below retirement age. Discussing her fieldwork with Britons living in Toulouse, Michaela Benson (Goldsmiths, University of London) examines the significance of European citizenship rights – particularly freedom of movement – for the career and life choices of these Britons and asks what the current agreements on citizens’ rights post-Brexit mean for them

Constellations of privilege: the racialised and classed formation of Britons living in rural France

This chapter revisits my research conducted with Britons resident in rural France to propose a conceptual innovation in how we conceive of privilege among lifestyle migrant populations. As I argue, the relative privilege that facilitates the lifestyle migration of the British to Europe, shaping and influencing settlement, extends beyond the socio-economic characteristics of these populations and should be considered instead as inherently and inextricably classed and racialised formation. The ethnography presented therefore shifts the focus of my earlier analyses that highlighted how migration to and settlement in rural France was part of a wider process of middle-class reproduction (Benson 2011, 2013), to make visible the social production of white Britishness. In this way, it draws attention to the multi-layered historical and material conditions that promote lifestyle migration, proposing constellations of privilege as a revision to the conceptual framework that drives lifestyle migration research

Brexit’s hidden costs for Britons living in the EU

The campaign that succeeded in pushing Britain out of the European Union focused on the perceived threat of unrestricted inward migration, obscuring the fact that over a million British citizens took advantage of open borders to settle in Europe. Post-Brexit, Britons no longer are entitled to automatic EU citizenship. The exit agreement secured the legal basis for their continued residency, but their rights remain uncertain

Življenjsko-stilske migracije: od trenutnega stanja k prihodnosti področja raziskovanja

This introductory article provides an overview of the predominant themes that have been explored within the field of lifestyle migration research. In this way, it seeks to locate the contributions to this special section within a wider field, showcasing their innovation. It highlights longstanding interests in migrant subjectivities, cultural narratives of place and migration, alongside a consistent focus on understanding the structural conditions that promote and facilitate lifestyle migration. This overview introduces the field of research to a non-specialist audience and organizes existing theoretical and conceptual concerns within the field.Uvodni članek prinaša pregled najpomembnejših tem, s katerimi se ukvarjajo raziskave življenjsko-stilskih migracij, in tako prispevke v pričujoči posebni številki umešča v širše področje in dokazuje njihovo inovativnost. Osvetljuje tudi dolgotrajno zanimanje za subjektivnosti migrantov, kulturne naracije kraja in migracije, in to skupaj s konsistentnim fokusom na razumevanje strukturnih pogojev, ki promovirajo in olajšujejo življenjsko-stilsko migracijo. Pregled omenjene raziskave predstavlja nestrokovnemu bralstvu in organizira teoretska in konceptualna vprašanja, ki se ob tem pojavljajo

There's 'more' to life : British migration to rural France

This thesis is about the lives of Britons who migrate to the Lot, a rural, inland département in southwest France. It shows that, while these migrants are a diverse population, they hold in common the pursuit of a different way of life. Both their imaginings of life in rural France and their previous experiences of life in Britain motivate their migration and continue to impact on their new lives in the Lot. The migrants view the lives they led in Britain as constraining, while they imagine that through migration and living in the Lot, they augment their abilities to define the world (and their lives) in their own terms. Following migration however, they soon realize that leading a different way of life is not such a straightforward process; although they desire to be a part of the local community and acquire what they imagine to be a rural French lifestyle, this takes both time and effort to achieve. As their narratives demonstrate, they thus occupy an ambiguous position between the lives they led in Britain and the lifestyle they associate with rural France. They strive to overcome these feelings of ambivalence by demonstrating the distinctiveness of their new lives. The ultimate measure of this distinctiveness is integration into the local population. Their narratives thus reveal their attempts to become insiders of the Lotoise community. The thesis concludes by arguing that the pursuit of difference is a central feature of the migrants' daily lives. The persistence of this quest highlights the fact that the migrants never fully resolve their ambivalence. This thesis thus emphasizes that it is the process of achieving a distinctive life that is a characteristic of the lives of British migration in the Lot (rather than the different way of life itself). It seems that there is always 'more' to life

Reflexive Practice in Live Sociology: Lessons from researching Brexit in the lives of British Citizens living in the EU-27

This paper brings reflexivity into conversation with debates about positionality and live sociology to argue for reflexivity to be reimagined as an enduring practice that is collaborative, responsible, iterative, engaged, agile, and creative. We elaborate our argument with reference to examples and contemplations drawn from our experiences researching what Brexit means for Britons living in the EU27 for the BrExpats research project, which was informed from the outset by reflexive practice. We outline three (of a number of) potential strategies for engaging in reflexive practice: reflexive positioning, reflexive navigating, and reflexive interpreting or sense-making. We acknowledge that these are not separate actions in practice but are conceptually distinguishable aspects of an ongoing reflexive practice, informed by our understanding of the cognitive relationship between reflexivity and practice theory

EU citizenship and transnational political mobilisation after Brexit

Following the Brexit referendum, a number of organisations were set up to support the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in the EU. Catherine Craven, Michaela Benson and Nando Sigona reflect on the work of these organisations and ask what their legacy will be

Where guidance by the government and the EU was missing, grassroots organisations like the 3 million and British in Europe led many people through the Brexit swamp

Following the Brexit referendum, a number of organisations were set up to support the rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in the EU. Catherine Craven, Michaela Benson and Nando Sigona reflect on the work of these organisations and ask what their legacy will be

Lifestyle migration and the pursuit of successful ageing

Old age is changing under the impact of demographic, social, and cultural shifts