Existential migration is a term coined by Greg Madison (2006) in ''Existential Analysis'', the journal of the

Society for Existential Analysis A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same Politics, political authority and dominant cultural expecta ...

. Madison's term describes

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

(voluntary emigrants) who supposedly have an "existential" motivation to travel, unlike economic migration, simple

wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. The term has its roots in German Romanticism. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a chara ...

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

, or variations of

forced migration Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR defines 'forced displaceme ...

. ‘Existential migration’ is conceived as a chosen attempt to express something fundamental about existence by leaving one's

homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

and becoming a foreigner.

Research

As well as the new concept of existential migration, the research proposed a novel definition of ''home as interaction''; that the ‘feeling of home’ arises from specific interactions with our surroundings that could potentially occur anywhere, at any time. This is in contrast to the usual definition of home as a fixed geographical place. The new concept also challenges our usual definitions of being at home, the experience of foreignness, what constitutes belonging, and the nature of homelessness. The insights gained from this new concept elaborate our existing understanding of migration in exciting ways. Existential migration suggests reformulations of the psychological underpinnings of migration studies,

cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term ...

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

studies, cross-cultural training,

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

studies, and

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

. Madison's research presents its subject matter in a clear and evocative way, emphasising the actual stories of voluntary migrants in order to convey the poignancy of the topic. The phenomenological research that gave rise to the concept of existential migration (Madison, 2006) also suggests a cautionary note regarding the psychological impact of increasing

globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

. While globalisation is frequently presented as an economic evolution of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and as a market necessity, there is scant discourse about the impact that these profound changes in world structure may have upon the experience of people in their daily lives. Although the phenomenological research on voluntary migration needs further critique, the first research does suggest that the

world community The term world community is used primarily in politics, political and humanitarianism, humanitarian contexts to describe an international aggregate of nation states of widely varying types. In most connotations, the term is used to convey meaning ...

may in fact be entering an age of global

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

. Of course recent economic turbulence has curtailed the increasing expectation that young professionals should be prepared to live abroad in order to enhance their

career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

prospects and indeed many, especially in the financial sector, are unexpectedly returning home after foreign assignments. However, even these returns home are often more problematic than expected and rather than return, they seem to resemble yet another migration due to the subsequent changes in person and home environment since the original leaving. The concept of existential migration has generated considerable comment from voluntary migrants around the world as well as psychological and

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

researchers, though there remains precious little in print about these fundamental existential motivations for migration. The concept has commonalities with some of the work on

cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizen ...

by the anthropologist Nigel Rapport. A book on the subject, entitled ''The End of Belonging'', is available publicly. The research is increasingly cited by new international researchers and artists exploring the experience of voluntary migration.

References

* Hayes, Helen (2008) (Be)coming Home: An Existential Perspective on Migration, Settlement and the Meanings of Home. ''Existential Analysis'', 18.1: 2-16 * Madison, Greg (2006) Existential Migration. ''Existential Analysis'', 17.2: 238-60 * Madison, Greg (2007) Unsettling Thought. ''Existential Analysis'', 18.2: 220-29 * Existential Migration (March 2008) Coaching Matters, Issue 6, page 5{{clarify, date=August 2013 * Existential Migration. Voluntary Migrants' Experiences of Not Being-at-home in the World Madison, Greg (2010) Lambert Academic Press. * End of Belonging. Untold Stories of Leaving Home and the psychology of Globalization. Madison, Greg (2009).

External links

* Is Travel an Existential Need? (July 7, 2009) "Matador Network" http://matadorabroad.com/existential-migration-is-travel-an-existential-need/ * Expat Identity (January 25, 2010) "The South African" http://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/expat-identity-are-you-an-“existential-migrant”.htm * Kelly's Heroes (of the existential type): A phenomenological study into the experience of “existential migration” Chris Neill 2008 * http://www.saybrook.edu/newexistentialists/posts/08-12-14 Human migration

Migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

Itinerant living Modern nomads Expatriates Diaspora studies

Research

See also

References

External links