Opting for elsewhere : lifestyle migration in the American middle class / Brian A. Hoey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoey, Brian A., 1968- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lifestyles--United States.

Lifestyles.

United States.

Middle class--United States.

Middle class.

Physical Description:

xvi, 254 pages ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

Nashville, Tennessee : Vanderbilt University Press, [2014]

Summary:

""Do you get told what the good life is, or do you figure it out for yourself?" This is the central question of Opting for Elsewhere, as the reader encounters stories of people who chose relocation as a way of redefining themselves and reordering work, family, and personal priorities. This is a book about the impulse to start over. Whether downshifting from stressful careers or being downsized from jobs lost in a surge of economic restructuring, lifestyle migrants seek refuge in places that seem to resonate with an idealized, potential self. Choosing the "option of elsewhere" and moving as a means of remaking self through sheer force of will are basic facets of American character, forged in its history as a developing nation of immigrants with a seemingly ever-expanding frontier. Building off years of interviews and research in the Midwest, including areas of Michigan, Brian Hoey provides an evocative illustration of the ways these sweeping changes impact people and the communities where 'they live and work as well as how both react--devising strategies for either coping with or challenging the status quo. This portrait of starting over in the heartland of America compels the reader to ask where we are going next as an emerging postindustrial society"-- Provided by publisher.

""Opting for Elsewhere examines the stories of everyday Americans who move to new places as a way to redefine themselves through reordering work, family, and personal priorities. Their lifestyle migration expresses longstanding cultural values while also demonstrating developing responses to distinctive contemporary challenges and opportunities"--Provided by publisher"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I Introductions

1 Reinvent or Die 3

2 Constructing the Good 11

3 Moral Horizons 25

4 Place 32

Part II Patterns of Migration

5 A Story of Lifestyle Migration 45

6 Locating the "Fifth Migration" 59

Part III Searching for Meaning

7 Place of Work 77

8 Consumption of Place 83

9 Place for Personhood 92

Part IV Moving On

10 The Option of Elsewhere 111

11 Potential Self 131

12 Making Transitions 148

Part V Conclusions

13 Migrants and Locals 167

14 Place of Lifestyle Migration 182.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780826520050

0826520057

9780826520067

0826520065

OCLC:

861069564

Online:

Cover image