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

Autor(en)

Ria-Maria Adams

Abstrakt

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(en)

Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie

Journal

Polar Geography

Band

46

Seiten

139-156

Anzahl der Seiten

18

ISSN

1088-937X

DOI

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

Publikationsdatum

02-2023

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

504017 Kulturanthropologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all), Geography, Planning and Development, Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/hunting-a-good-life-young-lifestyle-migrants-in-finnish-lapland(5fa7863b-b42d-4ea2-b58d-bfc277410456).html