Between Compliance and Resistance:Digital Nomads and the Frictional Mobility Regime

doi:10.13438/j.cnki.jdxb.2026.04.012

Abstract

Abstract: The mobile lifestyle of digital nomads both complies with and challenges national mobility regimes.Drawing on ethnographic field research,this paper elucidates the tension between compliance and resistance.On the one hand,it analyzes how digital nomads transform state-imposed mobility restrictions into creative border arts to fulfill their lifestyle pursuits.On the other hand,it argues that nation-states also function as border artists.State-led mobility regimes not onlyprescribe qualified mobile actors,entry access,and maximum residence duration within territorial boundaries but also implement targeted mobility governance.Such governance urges mobile subjects to conduct self-management and self-discipline by adhering to normative attributes including self-sufficiency,consumer citizenship,and depoliticized mobility.In this regard,individual adaptive strategies of digital nomads intertwine with state institutional strategies,jointly facilitating the emergence of mobility regimes serving as frictional interfaces.

Key words: digital nomads, mobility regimes, friction, mobility governance

[Italy] Fabiola Mancinelli, [USA] Jennie Germann Molz, Translated by Yao Jianhua, Liu Ruirui. Between Compliance and Resistance:Digital Nomads and the Frictional Mobility Regime[J]. Journal of Jishou University(Social Sciences Edition), 2026, 47(4): 109-119.

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