Doctoral Dissertation Research: When Locals Adapt to Newcomers

这个项目调查了富裕的新移民在成为生活方式移民的新社区后对发展中地区贫困社区的影响。有些人是退休人员，他们希望住在更便宜的地方，以延长他们的养老金；有些人是年轻人，他们寻求冒险，放慢生活节奏，或者在一个美丽的地方生活成本更低。在大多数当地人从事旅游业的地区，许多人开设了企业，并雇用了家政人员。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在一个和平、民主的地区增加经济机会的差异。该项目推进了对移民和混合、农村社区中产阶级化和退休的研究，特别是填补了了解特权移民如何影响当地经济和社会关系的空白。这个项目的主要数据来源将是访谈和民族志研究。将对来自两个不同地区的生活方式移民进行45次访谈，并对当地人进行40次访谈。人种学部分将包括对五个小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观察。雪球抽样将用于受访者的选择，和机会抽样，以确定参与者观察将发生。研究问题涉及外来者的有利经济地位如何影响他们的影响力，以及生活方式移民的经济和影响资源如何影响当地人。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.