Coworkation and digital nomadism: normalization and/or differentiation of working and living practices?
Résumé
Since the pandemic, remote working has become commonplace. Many workers who have experienced telecommuting have chosen to free themselves from a fixed place of residence due to the possibility of working remotely. More and more countries are introducing accommodating visa policies to attract these workers (around fifty in January 2024). The conditions seem to be in place for a massive increase in digital nomadism. However, in our view, digital nomads (DNs) remain a unique category of worker, with their own geography and special places that need to be questioned. This includes of the coworkation spaces (combining coworking and vacation) favoured by certain DNs. Our interdisciplinary analysis conducted over the past 5 years on these spaces worldwide shows their specificity for the DNs community. These spaces are indeed an expression of a lifestyle defined by digital tools, but they also reveal the complexity of emerging forms of dwelling, and community making and the variety of user profiles. The integration of these spaces within territories and local communities is also variable and constitutes a particular form of glocalization. As tourist areas, but often peripheral ones, they act as interfaces between localised territorial dynamics and globalised ways of working/living. Our presentation will mainly focus on two places (Sende in Galicia, Spain and Maison Glaz in Brittany, France) that are particularly representative of emerging forms of glocalized living and working, articulating virtual anchoring and territorial disassociation.