The Achievement and Potential of International Retirement Migration Research: The Need for Disciplinary Exchange

Abstract

The recent surge of research on international retirement migration (IRM) in Europe has examined interlocking topics of interest to several fields of social research. The researchers, drawn mainly from population and social geography, social gerontology and sociology, have focused on the geographical distribution of international retirement migrants, their motivations, social circumstances and integration with local populations, and the health and welfare outcomes. Recent contributions have, however, begun to explore other aspects of the IRM phenomenon, particularly processes of transnational identity formation, the mental construction of home, Heimat and community, and the meaning of supra-national (i.e. European Union) citizenship. This paper argues that IRM research offers many other possibilities for the interchange and fusion of social research concepts and methodologies. Several dimensions of IRM, such as the sustainability of transnational mobility and lifestyles and the elaboration of supra-national citizenship, are closely related to the current interests of transnationalism studies. Concepts and research questions from transnational studies could and should be added to research on IRM, while some interests of IRM studies, such as the distinctions made between a dwelling and a home and the mental construction of ‘home away from home’, engage with diaspora studies and offer a potential for productive comparative research. The transfer and exchange of concepts would sharpen and develop both research fields.

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