Lifestyle, Migration and Community: Karen O'Reilly, Michaela Benson, Matthew Hayes, Graham Crow

Twenty-five years on from the publication of Karen O’Reilly’s pathbreaking work The British on the Costa del Sol, the field of research this launched – lifestyle migration – is flourishing, spurred on in part by one of the most cited, read and downloaded articles in The Sociological Review journal, “Migration and the search for a better way of life”, influencing scholarship around the world on migration, tourism, gentrification and community studies (among others), and referenced in law and policy, and by government. Professor O'Reilly is joined here by Michaela Benson, Matthew Hayes and Graham Crow to reflect on why the book and the concept of lifestyle migration captured the imagination of social scientists in a range of disciplines; how it has travelled; the insights it offers into global social inequalities and migration studies; why it continues to have so much relevance in understanding migration as a distinctly social phenomenon; and future directions for exploring the relationship between lifestyle and migration. The concept of lifestyle migration has migrated out from its sociological roots to encompass gender, postcolonial and neoliberal critiques, and even a critique of migration studies, as well as to geographical areas as diverse as Russia, the United States, China and Japan.  About our speakers: Karen O'Reilly is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Loughborough University and a freelance research trainer, providing courses in qualitative research methods privately, for the Social Research Association, and at prestigious summer schools in Lugano and Essex. She is author of several books, including Qualitative Research Methods for Everyone, Ethnographic Methods, Key Concepts in Ethnography, and International Migration and Social Theory. In addition to longstanding ethnographic work in the field of migration, Professor O’Reilly has also worked in a consultancy role with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, HMRC, the UK Home Office, Pearson Education, and numerous charities and non-profit organisations. https://www.lboro.ac.uk/subjects/soci... https://karenoreilly.co.uk/about/ https://migrationresearch.com/experts... Ethnographic Methods (Routledge) https://www.routledge.com/Ethnographi... The British on the Costa del Sol (Routledge) https://www.routledge.com/The-British... Journal article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1... Matthew Hayes is Professor of Sociology and Canada Research Chair in Global and Transnational Studies at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick. He is author of Gringolandia: Lifestyle Migration under Late Capitalism (University of Minnesota Press). He is interested in the inherited global inequalities in everyday interactions between lifestyle migrants from core capitalist states and members of receiving communities in the Global South, especially of workers in the informal sector. Professor Hayes’ publications have appeared in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Urban Studies, and Area. https://www.stu.ca/sociology/matthew-... Gringolandia: Lifestyle Migration under Late Capitalism (University of Minnesota Press) https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517904... Graham Crow is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Methodology at the University of Edinburgh, where he was Director of the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. Recipient of the British Sociological Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2021, he co-edited Sociological Research Online and Sociology, was Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research Methods, and served on the REF 2014 for Sociology. He is author of The Emerald Guide to Ann Oakley and What are Community Studies?; the latter discusses Karen O’Reilly’s The British on the Costa del Sol as an exemplar of community studies research. His final funded research was on academics’ career trajectories, with an Edward Elgar monograph forthcoming. https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/staff/graham... https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/pers... Michaela Benson is Professor in Public Sociology at Lancaster University and Chief Executive of the Sociological Review Foundation. As part of her research focus on Brexit, migration and citizenship, she is co-lead of the acclaimed Economic and Social Research Council-funded project Rebordering, Britain and Britons After Brexit (MIGZEN), and is a regular contributor to media outlets including the BBC, The Telegraph and The Conversation. Professor Benson leads the Sociological Review Foundation’s podcast series Uncommon Sense, and is presenter of the podcasts Who do we think we are? (2021–24) and Brexit Brits Abroad (2017–20). https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/social-sc...