Doctoral Dissertation Research: When Locals Adapt to Newcomers

本项目调查富裕的新移民成为生活方式移民的新社区时对发展中地区贫穷社区的影响。有些是退休人员，他们希望通过住在更便宜的地方来延长他们的养老金，有些是年轻人，他们希望冒险，生活节奏较慢，或者在一个美丽的地方生活成本更低。许多人在一个大多数当地人从事旅游业的地区开办企业并雇用家政人员。了解这些新来者与当地人的关系很重要，因为他们作为企业家、老板和土地所有者的角色可能会增加和平、民主地区经济机会的差异。 该项目推进了对移民和混合、农村社区的绅士化和退休的研究，特别是填补了理解特权移民如何影响当地经济和社会关系的空白。该项目的主要数据来源将是访谈和人种学研究。 将对来自两个不同外部地区的生活方式移民进行45次采访，并对当地人进行40次采访。 人种学部分将包括对五个小城镇的移民经营的企业和家庭、社区活动和社会聚会进行为期一年的参与性观察。 将采用滚雪球抽样法选择受访者，并采用机会抽样法确定参与者观察的地点。 研究问题涉及外来者的经济优势如何影响他们的影响力，以及生活方式移民的经济和影响力资源如何影响当地人。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project investigates the effects affluent newcomers have on poor communities in a developing region when they become a newcomer community of lifestyle migrants. Some are retirees who hope to stretch their pensions by living in a cheaper location and some are younger people looking for adventure, a slower pace of life, or cheaper cost of living in a beautiful place. Many open businesses and employ household staff in an area where most locals work in the tourism industry. Understanding these newcomers' relations with locals is important because their role as entrepreneurs, bosses, and landowners could be increasing differences in economic opportunities in a peaceful, democratic region. This project advances the study of migration and mixing, gentrification in rural communities, and retirement, specifically filling a gap in understanding how privileged migrants affect local economies and social relations.The main sources of data for this project will be interviews and ethnographic research. Forty-five interviews with lifestyle migrants from two different outside regions will be conducted as well as 40 interviews with locals. The ethnographic component will consist of one year of participant observation of migrant-run businesses and households, community events, and social gatherings in five small towns. Snowball sampling will be used for interviewee selection, and opportunistic sampling to determine where participant observation will occur. The research questions addressed concern how outsiders' advantageous economic position affects their influence and how the economic and influence resources of lifestyle migrants affect locals.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.