What is contemporary global nomadism and how does it affect materialism?

Is John Lennon's line "imagine no possessions" not as idealistic as it once seemed? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, globalization has led to a new class of "global nomads" who are less attached to material objects.

"No one has studied contemporary global nomads and their relationship to possessions, and we can learn so much about how deterritorialization affects consumer culture from this unique and growing group of people," write authors Fleura Bardhi (Northeastern University), Giana M. Eckhardt (Suffolk University), and Eric J. Arnould (Bath University). "As possessions are seen as bumps on the road during geographical movement, the nomadic perspective challenges our existing views of possessions as central to consumer identity."

The authors conducted in-depth interviews with "elite global nomads," most of them from the United States, but several from the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey and Romania. According to the authors, these nomads travel more than 60 percent of the year and tend to work for global institutions like the UN, IMF, World Bank, and global NGOs.

"Global nomads tend to form situational attachments to objects, appreciate objects primarily for their instrumental use-value, and value immaterial or 'light' possessions as well as practices," the authors write. And they need their possessions to be portable, like portable electronics. They also value objects that help them stay connected to networks, like e-books and digital photos. "It is not the object per se that is valued, but rather its accessibility. Thus, possessions are replaceable and are not salient or part of the individual's extended self." Unlike migrants and expatriates who long for a home and relationships they left behind, global nomads are liberated from emotional, social, and physical obligations.

"Globalization theorists argue that global nomadism will become more prevalent in the future, and thus the liquid relationship to possessions that we identify will become an important lens in which to understand the new role of objects in people's lives, as consumers will seek to temporarily access objects rather than own them over long periods of time," the authors conclude.
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References:

EurekAlert. 2012. "What is contemporary global nomadism and how does it affect materialism?". EurekAlert. Posted: April 16, 2012. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/uocp-wic041612.php

Fleura Bardhi, Giana M. Eckhardt, and Eric J. Arnould. "Liquid Relationship to Possessions." Journal of Consumer Research: October 2012. For more information, contact Fleura Bardhi (f.bardhi@neu.edu) or visit http://ejcr.org/.

Only four degrees of separation, says Facebook

We are all a lot closer to Kevin Bacon than we thought.

A few months ago, we reported that a Yahoo team planned to test the six degrees of separation theory on Facebook. Now, Facebook's own data team has beat them to the punch, proving that most Facebook users are only separated by four degrees.

Facebook researchers pored through the records of all 721 million active users, who collectively have designated 69 billion "friendships" among them. The number of friends differs widely. Some users have designated only a single friend, probably the person who persuaded them to join Facebook. Others have accumulated thousands. The median is about 100.

To test the six degrees theory, the Facebook researchers systematically tested how many friend connections they needed to link any two users. Globally, they found a sharp peak at five hops, meaning that most pairs of Facebook users could be connected through four intermediate people also on Facebook (92 per cent). Paths were even shorter within a single country, typically involving only three other people, even in large countries such as the US.

Sociologist Stanley Milgram, who tested the six degrees theory in the 1960s, found an average of 5.2 intermediate people in the US. At the time, he wrote that people at the end points were "not five persons apart, but 'five circles of acquaintances' apart." He thought of them as different "worlds" of acquaintances." Now, the Facebook team concludes, "people are in fact only four worlds apart."

The world just became a little smaller.
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References:

Hecht, Jeff. 2011. "Only four degrees of separation, says Facebook". New Scientist. Posted: November 22, 2011. Available online: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/11/now-were-all-just-5-degrees-se.html

Race Is A Fiction

Wade Davis gives a Ted talk in Whistler talking about the concept of race as a fiction.



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References:

2010. "Race Is A Fiction". TED. Posted: October 23, 2010. Available online: http://www.tedxworld.com/TEDxWhistler/Talk/2010/Wade-Davis/Race-Fiction/1053