ABSTRACT

Digital nomadism gradually expanded during the 2010s. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work (a prerequisite to digital nomadism), suddenly became mainstream. In this new context the term digital nomadism is increasingly used in ways that are broader or different to its original conception. This paper reviews scientific literature and draws on the author’s ethnographic fieldwork to create an updated classification of contemporary digital nomadism that acknowledges the broad spectrum of individuals, groups, communities, identities, and imaginaries labelled with the term digital nomad. The paper updates the definition of digital nomadism and provides a new taxonomy which subdivides the digital nomad model into five distinct types: freelance digital nomads; digital nomad business owners; salaried digital nomads; experimental digital nomads and armchair digital nomads. It also proposes that six key variable themes should be applied to these classifications. These are: autonomy over mobility; homebase practices; domestic vs. transnational travel; legal legitimacy; work-life balance and coworking space usage. The taxonomy and the variable themes are proposed as a roadmap for future research and as a tool so researchers and policymakers can more accurately evaluate real-world examples of digital nomad context, motivation, practice, and impact.

摘要

数字游牧主义在 2010 年代逐渐扩大。自 COVID-19 大流行以来，远程工作（数字游牧主义的先决条件）突然成为主流。在这种新的背景下，数字游牧一词的使用方式越来越广泛或不同于其最初的概念。本文回顾了科学文献，并借鉴了作者的人种学田野调查，对当代数字游牧主义进行了更新的分类，承认了带有数字游牧一词标签的广泛的个人、群体、社区、身份和想象。该论文更新了数字游牧主义的定义，并提供了一种新的分类法，将数字游牧模式细分为五种不同的类型：自由数字游牧者；数字游牧企业主；受薪数字游牧者；实验性数字游牧民族和扶手椅数字游牧民族。它还建议将六个关键变量主题应用于这些分类。它们是：流动性自主权；基地实践；国内旅行与跨国旅行；法律合法性；工作与生活的平衡和联合办公空间的使用。分类法和可变主题被提出作为未来研究的路线图和工具，以便研究人员和政策制定者可以更准确地评估数字游牧背景、动机、实践和影响的现实例子。