This week we engaged with Erin McElroy’s “Digital Nomads and Settler Desires: Racial Fantasies of Silicon Valley Imperialism.” This article explores digital nomadism, an identity that describes the lifestyles for many tech workers in the Western world, specifically looking at the tech industry of the Silicon Valley. Furthermore, McElroy posits these nomadic fantasies as technologies of gentrification in a new frontier. As McElroy develops this genealogy, the speculation of a digital future by Arthur C. Clarke becomes a very important conceptual grounding in digital nomadism as it is emphasized that in this future; “computer dependence enables location independence, but only for businessmen and executives.” In tandem with the problematic self-ascription of “Gypsy” go to further the idea of fantasy spaces, which some come to realize and in turn contribute to the gentrification of these places. When reading this article, the role of Airbnbs particularly stood out to me, and it reminded me of the controversies and impact of digital nomads in Central America, I believe during the mid-point/end of the COVID-19 pandemic. I think at face value this lifestyle is perceived to do a lot more good to the local economies than harm, however, as mentioned in Clarke’s speculation this lifestyle primarily is for and by the businessmen and executives that can afford such a luxury as to work remotely. Reading this article specifically reminded me of the controversies that I had seen appear in the news about special digital nomad communities forming in Guatemala, specifically overlooking Lake Atitlan. I think the role of digital nomads, specifically looking at the role and impact of infrastructure such as Airbnb, gives us a clearer understanding of the true detrimental impact that it has to these communities. I think the case of Airbnb both in physical occupation of the space and culturally speaking is present in cases such as Puerto Rico, where both the legal and social construction of the archipelago’s status and citizenry has facilitated the merging of travel, work and play. I also think the idea of digital nomads coming to “recreate their home’s everywhere” is really interesting as it brings up key points of capital and access, given that home in this case often means the physical structure by which they have the means to purchase a new life in a new destination.
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