How to become an ‘elite cosmopolitan’: The mediatized trajectories of United Nations expatriates

Abstract

This article provides a Bourdieusian analysis of the mediatized lifeworlds of so-called elite cosmopolitans. Based on interviews with Nordic expatriates employed by United Nations organizations in Geneva, the study looks at how the increasing dependence on new media influences the field of United Nations organizations and the trajectories of cosmopolitan subjects. Theoretically, the analysis builds on two key concepts: communicational doxa, which establishes a link between Bourdieu’s field theory and critical mediatization theory; and cosmopolitan capital, understood as a sub-form of cultural capital. The findings suggest that mediatization alters the social conditions for accumulating cosmopolitan capital. However, the appropriation and mastery of new media do not hold any symbolic value as such, but tend to expand the possibilities for making investments in the field without altering its overarching logic. It is also shown that new professional media habits are often interwoven with private communication and the emotional needs associated with highly mobile family lives, thus underlining the indirect nature of mediatization in this context.