Gender, Agency, and The Social Imaginary in Japanese Lifestyle Migration to Europe
Gender, Agency, and The Social Imaginary in Japanese Lifestyle Migration to Europe

Author(s): Yana Yovcheva
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Gender; Agency; Social Imaginary; Japanese; Lifestyle; Migration;European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamenta;
Summary/Abstract: Gender, agency, and the social imaginary all feature prominently in lifestyle migration, but their relationship with one another has hardly been explored. This paper examines the impact gender has on Japanese lifestyle migrants’ engagement with the social imaginary about European destinations and the exercise of agency in subsequent migration decisions. The research finds that Japanese women generally indulge in imagining a life abroad and act on the imagined (i.e., exercise agency) much more freely and resolutely than men do. Also, that imagining a life in (Western) Europe in particular is characteristic of Japanese women, rather than men.

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