Neonomadism as a Socio-­Political Phenomenon

Abstract

This article explores new forms of transnational mobility brought about by digitalization, treating them as a socio political phenomenon. These forms not only reflect changes in the behavior of mobile individuals but also entail a redefinition of citizen state relations within the social contract framework. The spread of remote employment and cross border mobility practices, the article argues, blurs classical migration categories and calls for more refined analytical tools. The study aims at a comprehensive analysis of neonomadism as a multidimensional phenomenon: identifying mobile subject types, examining their motivations and movement strategies, and assessing the institutional repercussions for the state alongside the transformation of civic state relations in an era of global mobility and digital technologies. Methodologically, the research adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines institutional theory with the concept of social contract. A multilevel analytical model (micro, meso, and macro) enables integration of individuals’ endogenous motivational drivers with exogenous territorial factors. The analysis focuses on structural features of neonomadism, its typology, and consequences for contemporary migration policy and citizenship institutions. The findings indicate that neonomadism constitutes a form of temporary and selective inclusion of individuals into different states’ institutional regimes, whereby legal citizenship and actual residence no longer coincide. This mismatch triggers a redistribution of tax and social obligations, transforms the mechanisms of civic belonging, and fosters elements of post territorialization in socio political relations. The theoretical and methodological framework developed here – particularly the migrant typology and the decision making model accounting for internal motivation and exogenous territorial factors – can serve as a foundation for further research on global migration. The article thus broadens our understanding of diverse mobility forms as an object of socio political analysis and sheds light on how these forms shape public policy.