TY - JOUR
T1 - Ping-pong poms: Emotional reflexivity in contemporary return migration from Australia to the United Kingdom
AU - Holmes, Mary
AU - Burrows, Roger
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Australia
KW - Belonging
KW - Emotional reflexivity
KW - Online discussion forums
KW - Return migration
KW - United Kingdom
UR - http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=094937544575405;res=IELFSC
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84918829534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.2012.tb00237.x
DO - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.2012.tb00237.x
M3 - Article
SN - 0157-6321
VL - 47
SP - 105
EP - 123
JO - Australian Journal of Social Issues
JF - Australian Journal of Social Issues
IS - 1
ER -