Marginalno mobilni? Ranljivi življenjski stili med zahodnjaki v Goi

An increasing number of Westerners are leading lifestyles where they repeatedly spend long periods of time in Goa, India. This article discusses the phenomenon in terms of marginal mobility. The main focus is on the problems that the transnationally mobile lifestyle can cause for individuals. The article shows that the mobile lifestyle of the Westerners in Goa involves various vulnerabilities, for example in terms of personal crises, official residence status, visas and children’s education. The article is based on extensive ethnographic research.Naraščajoče število zahodnjakov oblikuje življenjski stil periodičnega preživljanja daljših obdobij v indijski Goi. Pričujoči članek tovrstni pojav obravnava skozi očišče marginalne mobilnosti. Pri tem se osredotoča na težave, ki jih od prevladujočih sedentarnih norm odstopajoči življenjski stil prinaša posameznikom. Članek pokaže, da transnacionalni mobilni življenjski stil zahodnjakov v Goi vključuje različne ranljivosti, na primer osebne težave, status uradnega bivališča, pridobivanje vise, izobrazba otrok. Prispevek temelji na obsežni etnografski raziskavi

Westerners in Search of a Better Life in India

This report introduces research examining Westerners who spend long periods of time in the city of Varanasi in northern India year after year. Here they claim to have found a more meaningful and interesting life than in their homelands. The study discusses the phenomenon within the framework of lifestyle  migration arguing that it is important to pay attention to transnational lifestyles that are not elitist but nevertheless based on Western privilege. In addition, the study examines communality among the Westerners arguing that they form a tight, yet fluid, community in Varanasi. The Westerners lead highly mobile lives, yet the community is very significant for them in a particular place and at a particular time. Keywords: communities, lifestyle migration, India, Westerners, transnationalis

Growing up Cosmopolitan? : Children of Western Lifestyle Migrants in Goa, India

An increasing number of Western families lead a lifestyle whereby they spend half of the year in Goa, India, and the rest in the parents’ countries of origin. Such people can be defined as lifestyle migrants. In this article, I discuss the phenomenon in terms of cosmopolitanism. I ask whether lifestyle migrant children in Goa (3 to 12-year-olds) are growing up in a cosmopolitan way. I show that the parents say that for their children their lifestyle is a great advantage: their transnationally mobile life makes the children sociable and cosmopolitan. The views and practices of children and young adults who have grown up in Goa, however, show that although they appear cosmopolitan in some respects, in other respects they do not, and deeming them cosmopolitan depends on how we define the term. The lifestyle migrant children and young people do not necessarily reach out across cultural differences but their horizons are not narrowly national either. I argue that lifestyle migrant children in Goa are multilingual, sociable and flexible in adapting to life in different places but that their engagement with the Indian other is limited. Therefore, they are cosmopolitan, but it is cosmopolitanism on limited, Western terms

Book Review of Maxwell, Claire, Yemini, Miri and Mygind Bach, Katrine 2022. 'Nurturing Mobilities. Family Travel in the 21st Century'. New York and London: Routledge, 138 pp

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‘Then we decided not to tell the adults’. Fieldwork among children in an international school

This article discusses ethnographic fieldwork among nine- and ten-year-old children in an international school in Finland. It elaborates on the myth of going native and on the researcher’s performance and negotiation of various roles, along with the improvisation this requires. Ethnographers cannot escape certain roles that are given to them but they can strategically use these and other roles to establish rapport and gain rich knowledge. When adults study children in an institutional setting, such as a school, they have to take into account the views and expectations of not only the children themselves but also the adults who work there. The article argues that reciprocity is an essential part of a successful ethnographic endeavour and analyses the significance of the researcher’s reciprocal involvement when conducting fieldwork among children in a school.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

‘Where Should the Orthodox Christian Go?’ Distinctions Based on Religion and Language in a Finnish International School

While international schools aim to produce global citizens, national schools seek to create national citizens and integrate immigrants into the national whole. When these aims are combined within a municipal international school, the result is at times contradictory. This article considers the everyday experiences of 9-year-old children in a Finnish municipal international school. It investigates how a school that aims to be both international and national creates distinctions between pupils and how such distinctions affect pupils’ everyday practices. Two distinctive processes are analysed: how compulsory religion lessons and Christian events create distinctions between pupils, and how children’s Finnish skills affect both their interactions and the practices within the school. The article presents the argument that children also use these distinction mechanisms in their everyday lives and that even though the school is an international one, the Finnish-speaking Christian child is still considered the norm, and the international child – the foreigner – the ‘other.’ Finnish international schools can be seen as a magnifying glass with which to illuminate processes taking place in ‘regular’ Finnish schools, since the international school context intensifies these. The article is based on extensive ethnographic research at a municipal international school in a Finnish town

Tanu, Danau. 2018. Growing up in transit: the politics of belonging at an international school. New York: Berghahn Books. 296 pp. Hb.: US$135.00. ISBN: 9781785334085.

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Ekonomien urakehitys uraliikkuvuuden näkökulmasta

Siirretty Doriast

Under the Radar – Expatriate Children and Integration in Finland

Peer reviewe