Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)

, Volume 23, Issue 2, pp 205–221 | Cite as

Nomadic Work as Life-Story Plot

Article
First Online:

Abstract

Interviews aimed at a reconstruction of working-life stories of ‘digital immigrants’ and ‘digital natives’ revealed, unsurprisingly, that such stories are emplotted with the aid of existing repertoires. What is more surprising, though, is the fact that ‘nomadic plots’ can be borrowed from opposite political repertoires, and that they cease serving as effective interpretative templates in the face of changing circumstances, such as the financial crisis. A focus group consisting of alleged self-described nomads indicated that the choice of this life plot is related to such matters as family circumstances and political situations during early childhood, as well as a present gender-mitigated family situation. Other studies focusing on the younger generation reveal that nomadic work as a life story plot does not lose its attraction. Narrative analysis suggests, however, that the notions of ‘digital immigrants’ and ‘nomadic work’ are more complex than their use in the media may suggest.

Keywords

Nomadic work Mobile workers Nomadic computing Life stories Emplotment 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

My sincere thanks to ‘Anselm’, ‘Bernward’, and the participants in the focus group–both for their participation in my study and for the comments to the text.

Notes

  1. 1

    With the roots of the idea in the 1960s, as Wikipedia correctly informs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing#History, accessed 27 July 2011.

     
  2. 2

    The survey addressed people aged 15 to 35 from EU countries, and also Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Turkey.

     
  3. 3

    It needs to be added that the question concerned working in other European countries; the US or China, for example, weren’t mentioned.

     

References

  1. Barley, Stephen R. and Kunda, Gideon (2004). Gurus, Hired Guns, and Warm Bodies. Itinerant Experts in a Knowledge Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
  2. Bean, Cynthia J., and Eisenberg, Eric M. (2006). Employee Sensemaking in the Transition to Nomadic Work. Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 19, no.2, pp. 210–222.Google Scholar
  3. Chen, Leida and Nath, Ravi (2005). Nomadic Culture: Cultural Support for Working Anytime, Anywhere. Information Systems Management, Fall, pp. 56–64.Google Scholar
  4. Cousins, Karlene C. and Robey, Daniel (2005). Information and Organization, vol. 15, no. 2, pp.151–180.Google Scholar
  5. Czarniawska, Barbara (2008). Alterity/Identity Interplay in Image Construction. In D. Barry and H. Hansen (eds.): The SAGE Handbook of New Approaches in Management and Organization. London: Sage, pp. 49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Czarniawska, Barbara (2011). How to Study Gender Inequality in Organizations? In E.L. Jeanes, D. Knights and P. Y. Martin (eds.): Handbook of Gender, Work and Organization. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 81–108.Google Scholar
  7. D'Mello, Marisa and Sahay, Sundeep (2007). ‘I Am Kind of a Nomad Where I Have to Go Places and Places’ … Understanding Mobility, Place and Identity in Global Software Work from India. Information and Organization, vol. 17, no.3, pp.162–192.Google Scholar
  8. European Commission (2006). Europeans on the Move. Portraits of 31 Mobile Workers. Luxemburg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.Google Scholar
  9. Eyerman, Ron and Löfgren, Orvar (1995). Romancing the Road: Road Movies and Images of Mobility. Theory, Culture and Society, vol.12, pp. 53–79.Google Scholar
  10. Gallup Organization, The (2011). Youth on the Move. Analytical Report. Flash EB Series#319b, http://europa.eu/youthonthemove. Accessed 28 July 2011.
  11. Makoto Su, Norman and Mark, Gloria (2008). Designing for Nomadic Work. DIS 2008 Proceedings, February 25–27, Cape Town, South Africa. New York: ACM Press, pp.305–314.Google Scholar
  12. Richman, Amy; Noble, Karen, and Johnson, Arlene (2002). When the Workplace is Many Places. The Extent and Nature of Off-site Work Today. Watertown, MA: WFD Consulting Inc.Google Scholar
  13. Schultze, Ulrike, and Boland, Richard J. Jr. (2000). Place, Space and Knowledge Work: A Study of Outsourced Computer Systems Administrators. Accounting, Management and Information Technologies, vol. 10: pp. 187–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Simmel, Georg (1909/1950). The Stranger. In K. Wolff (ed.): The Sociology of Georg Simmel. Glencoe, Il: The Free Press, pp. 402–408.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.GRI, School of Business, Economics and LawUniversity of GothenburgGothenburgSweden

Personalised recommendations