Existential migration

Existential migration is a concept derived from phenomenological research (Madison, 2006) into the lives of voluntary migrants who have chosen to leave their country of origin in order to live as foreigners in a new land. This research was originally published in a peer reviewed journal and has over the past three years generated interest amongst existential practitioners, migration scholars, and psychologists interested in migration. According to Madison this process of migration is unlike economic migration, simple wanderlust, exile, or variations of forced migration. ‘Existential migration’ is conceived as a chosen attempt to express something fundamental about existence by leaving one’s homeland and becoming a foreigner. The research study generated impressively consistent themes based upon in-depth interviews with twenty co-researchers. These themes are largely corroborated by more conventional studies on 'culture shock' and W-curve hypothesis of cross-cultural adaptation. Madison's study generated themes that included sensitivities such as the importance of trying to fulfill individual potentials, the importance of freedom and independence, openness to experiences of the mystery of life, and the valuing of difference and foreignness as a stimulus to personal awareness and broadening perspectives. Among this population there is a marked preference for the strange and foreign over the familiar or conventional.

As well as the new concept of existential migration, the research proposed a novel definition of home as interaction; that the ‘feeling of home’ arises from specific interactions with our surroundings that could potentially occur anywhere, at any time. This is in contrast to the usual definition of home as a fixed geographical place. The new concept also challenges our usual definitions of being at home, the experience of foreignness, what constitutes belonging, and the nature of homelessness. The insights gained from this new concept elaborate our existing understanding of migration in exciting ways. Existential migration suggests reformulations of the psychological underpinnings of migration studies, cultural anthropology, tourism studies, cross-cultural training, refugee studies, and psychotherapy. Madison's research presents its subject matter in a clear and evocative way, emphasising the actual stories of voluntary migrants in order to convey the poignancy of the topic.

The phenomenological research that gave rise to the concept of existential migration (Madison, 2006) also suggests a cautionary note regarding the psychological impact of increasing globalisation. While globalisation is frequently presented as an economic evolution of capitalism and as a market necessity, there is scant discourse about the impact that these profound changes in world structure may have upon the experience of people in their daily lives. Although the phenomenological research on voluntary migration needs further critique, the first research does suggest that the world community may in fact be entering an age of global homelessness. Of course recent economic turbulence has curtailed the increasing expectation that young professionals should be prepared to live abroad in order to enhance their career prospects and indeed many, especially in the financial sector, are unexpectedly returning home after foreign assignments. However, even these returns home are often more problematic than expected and rather than return, they seem to resemble yet another migration due to the subsequent changes in person and home environment since the original leaving.

The concept of existential migration has generated considerable comment from voluntary migrants around the world as well as psychological and social science researchers, though there remains precious little in print about these fundamental existential motivations for migration. The concept has commonalities with some of the work on cosmopolitanism by the anthropologist Nigel Rapport. A book on the subject, entitled The End of Belonging, is available publicly. The research is increasingly cited by new international researchers exploring the experience of voluntary migration.

See also

• Cosmopolitanism
• Third Culture Kids
• Global Nomads

Sources

• Hayes, Helen (2008) (Be)coming Home:An Existential Perspective on Migration, Settlement and the Meanings of Home. Existential Analysis, 18.1: 2-16 This article offers different original research which references the concept of Existential Migration while offering a different point of view on some similar phenomena.
• Madison, Greg (2006) Existential Migration. Existential Analysis, 17.2: 238-60 This article offers an outline of the original research.
• Madison, Greg (2007) Unsettling Thought. Existential Analysis, 18.2: 220-29 This article is a reply to Hayes' article above - a dialogue that seeks to clarify some of the differences in perspective, thus clarifying some of the intentions of the original research by Madison.
• Expat Identity (January 25, 2010) "The South African" http://london.thesouthafrican.com/living-in-london/Expat-identity--Are-you-an-“existential-migrant”
• Is Travel an Existential Need? (July 7, 2009) "Matador Network" http://matadorabroad.com/existential-migration-is-travel-an-existential-need/
• Existential Migration (March, 2008) Coaching Matters, Issue 6, page 5
• Existential Migration. Voluntary Migrants' Experiences of Not Being-at-home in the World Madison, Greg (2010) Lambert Academic Press. This book presents the original research leading to this new concept in human migration in a more academic form.
• End of Belonging. Untold Stories of Leaving Home and the psychology of Globalization. Madison, Greg (2009).