Towards a political ecology of lifestyle migration: Local perspectives on socio‐ecological change in Bocas del Toro, Panama

Abstract

International flows of people from developed to developing countries represent a departure from the typical migratory path away from the Global South. These counter‐movements are usually characterised by a search for destinations with warm climates, cheaper costs of living, and a perceived high quality of life. One such destination is the Bocas del Toro archipelago in Northwestern Panama. Lifestyle migration to Panama is, in part, the result of political economic conditions in countries of origin that drive people to seek new lifestyle destinations, coupled with Panamanian government‐led neoliberal development policies aimed at increasing sources of foreign investment. While lifestyle migrant trajectories have been widely studied in the region, the local socio‐ecological implications of such movements are rarely considered. This paper explores local perceptions of change in terms of the differences in outcomes across local ethno‐cultural groups, and of the challenges and opportunities of the emerging new economy of Bocas del Toro. Findings represent an empirical case study of implications of lifestyle migration and further expand scholarly thinking about the intersection of first and third world political ecologies by linking two branches of a field of study that have traditionally shared methods and themes, yet have been separated by geography.

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