Living in a 'bubble': Global working communities and insulation in mobile contexts
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Globally mobile workers are often depicted as isolated individuals and families, who navigate crises and hazards more or less on their own (Dabic, González-Loureiro and Harvey, 2015; Bader, Stoermer, Bader and Schuster, 2018; McNulty, Lauring, Jonasson and Selmer, 2019). However, experiential knowledge suggests that in the case of, for example, assigned, and self-initiated expatriates as well as multinational professionals, their assignments are rarely undertaken as isolated individuals (Fechter, 2016; Puchmüller and Fischlmayr, 2017). Rather, it has been documented that mobile workers across the globe seek contact in ways that suggest the existence of distinct communities (Cohen, 1977). These groupings can in some instances become secluded collectives that effectively insulate foreign nationals from the local socio-cultural environments. In this situation, it is not uncommon to observe nationality-based bonding in places where global mobile workers work on international assignments. In some instances, they are even physically isolated in gated communities (Lauring and Selmer, 2009). Alternatively, globally mobile employees and professional experts can sometimes unite around shared identities and values (Harrington and Seabrooke, 2020; Zhang, Lauring and Liu, 2021). Although some research has been conducted on mobile work communities, this theme has generally received limited attention and many questions remain unanswered. This could, for example, be in relation to their ultimate purpose, their acceptance and rejection criteria, and their robustness.
Journal
Journal of Global Mobility
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Volume
11
ISBN/ISSN
2049-8799
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Issue
1
Pages Count
5
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing Limited
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EISSN
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DOI
10.1108/JGM-03-2023-101