Rooted digitalism: remote work, im/mobility and the life-course

Abstract

This article examines how a specific group of professional remote workers (laptop/knowledge workers in Europe) negotiate mobility and immobility through remote work across the life course. It draws on two case studies conducted between 2020 and 2022: remote working trends in the Swiss IT sector and the South-working phenomenon in Italy, through which professionals returned, often to Southern Italy, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. I introduce the concept of rooted digitalism to explore how remote digital work enables selective mobility and the negotiation of mobility and immobility in the pursuit of rootedness, care and belonging in specific places across the life course.