Ping-pong poms: Emotional reflexivity in contemporary return migration from Australia to the United Kingdom

Mary Holmes, Roger Burrows

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    25 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    About 20,000 people from the United Kingdom emigrate to Australia each year. Of these, a significant number return to the United Kingdom, and some return again to Australia. Studies of such patterns of migration and return (and return again) were quite common a few decades ago, but are now rare. This paper makes use of a contemporary data source - an Internet-mediated discussion forum - to explore the experiences of modern 'ping-pong poms'. A picture emerges of these migrants as exercising emotional reflexivity in dealing with the pull of family left behind, 'homesickness', the lack of a sense of belonging and their often-disappointed dreams of a 'better life'. By understanding the importance of emotions in people's decisions about return migration, policy can better attend to the realities of more mobile lives.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)105-123
    Number of pages19
    JournalAustralian Journal of Social Issues
    Volume47
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2012

    Keywords

    • Australia
    • Belonging
    • Emotional reflexivity
    • Online discussion forums
    • Return migration
    • United Kingdom

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Ping-pong poms: Emotional reflexivity in contemporary return migration from Australia to the United Kingdom'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this