White men can move : Agency, mobility, language and privilege in a translocal perspective

Sammanfattning: This thesis will explore the utility of translocal approaches in understanding the lived experiences of white, native English-speaking men working in the hospitality industry in Stockholm. This thesis takes the form of a qualitative case study, relying primarily on 10 in depth interviews and observations. The participants in this study are identified as highly mobile. The embodied, emotive interactions of mobile individuals with place are investigated and their experience of place and mobility is discussed in relation to agency and the normative structures in a local and global context. The research participants interviewed for this research project are demonstrated to be agentic, privileged actors at a global scale through their normative whiteness and nationality. This privilege underlies their identity as mobile. At a local scale, the utility of the deployment of the English language is shown to be dependent on the discursive position of the speaker, due to the monolingual norm present in Sweden. The English language workplace is shown to be a translocal place at the intersection of local and translocal linkages.