Youth Mobility and Social Bonds: Towards Relational Elasticity?
Noticing a gap in contemporary literature on youth mobility, mostly focusing the period before the departure and the time of the staying abroad, we decided to focus on the experience of young students returning to their home countries after a study period in Paris or Perugia as part of the Erasmus project. This led to an empirical study consisting of n.9 qualitative interviews, which serve as the basis for the present contribution. We propose the following hypothesis: mobility and the subsequent return influence how individuals invest themselves in their present, past, and future interpersonal relationships. These relationships do not seem to dissolve but rather become more fluid, leading to the development of a form of "relational elasticity" that enhances the capacity to withstand the challenges and obstacles posed by neoliberal society.
Social ties are tested by contemporary imperatives of speed, efficiency, and the precariousness that characterizes both the labor market and personal relationships, which seem to thin out connections. However, the empirical data gathered for this research suggest that mobility—specifically, the departure from and return to one's habitual environment—alters the way young people conceive their relationships with significant others (family and peers). They become aware of the plastic and mutable nature of these bonds, but this does not result in a weakening of their strength. Instead, a greater flexibility emerges, allowing relationships to adapt to various situations and needs.