Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration

The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative take on the phenomena of migration by discussing the notion of happiness seen as technology of the self that is oriented towards the future and therefore connecting different times and places. This understanding is predicated upon the comprehen...

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Autor principal: Alexandra Dantzer
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Publicado: University of Belgrade 2017
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/da5723c1371840d6abeae7d7d62020d5
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:da5723c1371840d6abeae7d7d62020d52021-12-02T07:19:29ZArchitects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration10.21301/eap.v12i1.80353-15892334-8801https://doaj.org/article/da5723c1371840d6abeae7d7d62020d52017-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.eap-iea.org/novi-ojs/index.php/eap/article/view/736https://doaj.org/toc/0353-1589https://doaj.org/toc/2334-8801 The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative take on the phenomena of migration by discussing the notion of happiness seen as technology of the self that is oriented towards the future and therefore connecting different times and places. This understanding is predicated upon the comprehension that happiness shapes what coheres as a world and that it is always anticipated, rather than actual. I want to argue that migration, instead as simple crossing of the border and settling for “better life”, is an on-going mental process that I refer to as mindwork. Through the proposed framework mobility is understood as a way of achieving happy life. In contrast to previous theories, emotions are not seen as vehicles making the migration process easier or harder, but vice versa. By inverting the process anthropologist can refine their approaches in both fields, anthropology of emotions/happiness and migration studies and gain deeper insight into questions such as: what does it mean to be happy in a specific context, how does happiness enter the lives of people and last but not least why do some people migrate and what do they invest into this process marked with ambiguity? Alexandra DantzerUniversity of Belgradearticlemigrationmindworkcognitive migrationanthropology of happinessemotions and migrationAnthropologyGN1-890ENFRSREtnoantropološki Problemi, Vol 12, Iss 1 (2017)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
FR
SR
topic migration
mindwork
cognitive migration
anthropology of happiness
emotions and migration
Anthropology
GN1-890
spellingShingle migration
mindwork
cognitive migration
anthropology of happiness
emotions and migration
Anthropology
GN1-890
Alexandra Dantzer
Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration
description The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative take on the phenomena of migration by discussing the notion of happiness seen as technology of the self that is oriented towards the future and therefore connecting different times and places. This understanding is predicated upon the comprehension that happiness shapes what coheres as a world and that it is always anticipated, rather than actual. I want to argue that migration, instead as simple crossing of the border and settling for “better life”, is an on-going mental process that I refer to as mindwork. Through the proposed framework mobility is understood as a way of achieving happy life. In contrast to previous theories, emotions are not seen as vehicles making the migration process easier or harder, but vice versa. By inverting the process anthropologist can refine their approaches in both fields, anthropology of emotions/happiness and migration studies and gain deeper insight into questions such as: what does it mean to be happy in a specific context, how does happiness enter the lives of people and last but not least why do some people migrate and what do they invest into this process marked with ambiguity?
format article
author Alexandra Dantzer
author_facet Alexandra Dantzer
author_sort Alexandra Dantzer
title Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration
title_short Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration
title_full Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration
title_fullStr Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration
title_full_unstemmed Architects of happiness: Notes on the mindwork of migration
title_sort architects of happiness: notes on the mindwork of migration
publisher University of Belgrade
publishDate 2017
url https://doaj.org/article/da5723c1371840d6abeae7d7d62020d5
work_keys_str_mv AT alexandradantzer architectsofhappinessnotesonthemindworkofmigration
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