New Middle-Class Labor Migrants

Scott, Sam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5951-4749 (2019) New Middle-Class Labor Migrants. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9789811328978

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Abstract

Migration researchers have tended to focus on social extremes: either highly skilled elites, on the one hand, or low-wage workers on the other. Less attention has been directed toward “ordinary” middle-class professional movers, and there have been no reviews of this literature to date. The chapter addresses this gap and identifies five important themes to guide future class-orientated migration research. First, the complex relationship between migration, social mobility, place, and middle-class membership is examined. Second, age is shown to be an important consideration in middle-class migration decision-making. Third, the cultural versus economic basis of the mobile middle-class is explored, and the role of lifestyle factors in shaping migration is critically examined. Fourth, middle-class migration decisions are connected to gendered household strategies, with the preponderance of dual-career couples now taking migration decision-making well beyond the individual career path. Finally, the social and communal emplacement of middle-class migrants is considered as an important but neglected dimension of research. Overall, it is clear that the class-based analysis of migration is an important yet neglected field of study, and this is especially true for middle-class movers.

Item Type:	Book Section
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human geography. Human ecology. Anthropogeography
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Research Priority Areas:	Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User:	Sam Scott
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2019 14:03
Last Modified:	13 Feb 2025 16:15
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/6572

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