Hunting a ‘good life’: young lifestyle migrants in Finnish Lapland

Author(s)

Ria-Maria Adams

Abstract

This article focuses on young lifestyle migrants in Arctic Finland, individuals who can be described as active agents of their own fate in having made a conscious choice to move to a place they consider worth living in. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research, the study brings to light newcomers’ motivations for migrating to a geographically remote area and discusses structural conditions that support the process of moving to Finnish Lapland. The search for personal wellbeing and a desire to construct “authentic” lifestyles in rural environments emerged as driving factors for young people who consider moving to the Arctic. While access to nature and nature-based leisure activities proved to be the most attractive feature of the region, opportunities to work in the tourism industry, well-connected transport infrastructures and educational opportunities also figured significantly in the migrants’ decisions. Social media channels play a pivotal role as a platform promoting their lifestyle. In engaging regularly with young people who have moved to the Arctic, where they pursue their chosen lifestyle in a harsh climate with high living costs, the research challenges the prevailing argument in the lifestyle migration debate whereby middle-class people move to places with lower living costs and sunny climates.

Organisation(s)

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Journal

Polar Geography

Volume

46

Pages

139-156

No. of pages

18

ISSN

1088-937X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2023.2182383

Publication date

02-2023

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

504017 Cultural anthropology

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Geography, Planning and Development, General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/5fa7863b-b42d-4ea2-b58d-bfc277410456