Abstract
In an increasingly interconnected, borderless and technologically-advanced globalized world, new forms of work life are emerging through the use of technology. Digital nomads represent one such emergent group: professionals who utilize technology to circumvent conventional work environments by working remotely. These migratory workers generate new and innovative ways to maintain their work-life in a global context. Although digital native scholarship has largely focused on the white American male, a significant number of Black American females are found within the digital nomad ranks. These middle-class, college educated, Black women are intent on circumventing traditional American work environments and perceived racial and gendered hostility in favor of independence, travel, and a work-life lived abroad. \r \r Through an ethnographic lens, this research project investigates the writings and blog posts of Black female digital natives in order to reveal how Black women negotiate concepts of nation, community, and belonging at home and abroad. Black women’s narratives also reveal how globalization, modernity and technology work together to reconstruct notions of identity and authenticity for themselves as well as their communities. This thesis argues that Black women’s voices, which are often overlooked, are a critical addition to the literature within the fields of travel, work, and leisure. By illuminating the experiences of Black women, and more specifically, Black female digital nomads, this project aspires to provide new insights into the ways in which identity, race, gender, diaspora, citizenship, and class are constructed and reconstructed in new and divergent transnational contexts.