posted on 2009-12-14, 12:16authored byKaren OReilly
For Zygmunt Bauman the search for utopia in contemporary, liquid life takes the form
of an individualised hunt, a self-realisation project rather than an attempt to improve
wider society. While lifestyle migration, a mobility motivated by dreams and facilitated
by at least comparative wealth, can generally be viewed in this light, does this also hold
true for the children? This chapter presents material from interviews and conversations
with children of lifestyle migrants in Southern Spain and examines the validity of
Bauman’s perspective. It concludes that while his theories appear to work well in
explaining the motivations behind lifestyle migration, he lacks emphasis on the
continuing salience of traditional categories and the reproduction of structures of
inequality, which remain profoundly relevant even for these very young actors in liquid
life. To fully understand the choices children make, the trajectories they weave, and the
identities they create, we need to invoke the work of Bourdieu and his concepts of
habitus, field and capital.
History
School
Social Sciences
Department
Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies
Citation
O'REILLY, K., 2009. The children of the hunters: self-realisation projects and class reproduction. IN: Benson, M. and O'Reilly, K. (eds.). Lifestyle Migration: Expectations, Aspirations and Experiences. Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 103-120.
This book chapter was published in the book Lifestyle Migration: Expectations, Aspirations and Experiences which is available from Ashgate Publishing at: http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754675679