Exploring emotional reflexivity in British lifestyle migration to Australia

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, we explore narratives from interviews with British migrants who had shifted to Australia seeking a better way of life. Framed through the conceptual paradigm of lifestyle migration, we argue in this paper that pivotal to this late‐modern phenomenon is the moment of reflexivity where imagination over life elsewhere collides with present experiences in place. However, using the concept of emotional reflexivity, we argue that these reflexive moments are not simply cognitively processed. Rather, emotions in the everyday and emotions of imagined lives elsewhere colour the reflexive moment and guide decision making. Furthermore, once living the lifestyle migration, emotions continue to play a role in the everyday moments of reflexivity. In some circumstances, as we show, emotional detachment from the lifestyle migration experience creates impetus to leave place and return home. Through this paper, we hope to engage further with the argument that emotional reflexivity needs to be interrogated in lifestyle migration research.