What is a digital nomad? Definition and taxonomy in the era of mainstream remote work. (Special Issue: Leisure, knowledge work and the digital nomadism.)

Digital nomadism gradually expanded during the 2010s. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work (a prerequisite to digital nomadism), suddenly became mainstream. In this new context the term digital nomadism is increasingly used in ways that are broader or different to its original conception. This paper reviews scientific literature and draws on the author's ethnographic fieldwork to create an updated classification of contemporary digital nomadism that acknowledges the broad spectrum of individuals, groups, communities, identities, and imaginaries labelled with the term digital nomad. The paper updates the definition of digital nomadism and provides a new taxonomy which subdivides the digital nomad model into five distinct types: freelance digital nomads;digital nomad business owners;salaried digital nomads;experimental digital nomads and armchair digital nomads. It also proposes that six key variable themes should be applied to these classifications. These are: autonomy over mobility;homebase practices;domestic vs. transnational travel;legal legitimacy;work-life balance and coworking space usage. The taxonomy and the variable themes are proposed as a roadmap for future research and as a tool so researchers and policymakers can more accurately evaluate real-world examples of digital nomad context, motivation, practice, and impact.

Governance response during COVID-19 and political affirmative action: evidence from local governments in India. (Special Issue: Local governments in pandemic response.)

A great deal of work argues that the entry of women into public spaces can promote political and institutional change. The COVID-19 provides an opportunity to investigate whether and under what conditions women's political representation in rural local governments deliver effective local governance? Drawing from two rounds of data collected in 174 local governments and 1051 households in three Indian states, the paper shows that women Pradhans in the Gram Panchayats had no differential impact on the governance response to COVID-19 compared to the unreserved ones. Analyzing the heterogeneity in these responses suggests that institutional factors like the proportion of women in village council and local entrepreneurship diversity can enhance women Pradhan's capacity to respond to the pandemic. We explore two channels that enable women Pradhan to govern effectively during the pandemic: improving women's participation in the labor force and reducing household's vulnerability to poverty in the pre-COVID period.

Global prospects to deliver safe drinking water services for 100 million rural people by 2030

The climate crisis and global pandemic have accelerated the urgency of providing safe drinking water services around the world. Global progress to safe drinking water is off-track with uncertain and limited data on the extent and performance of rural water service providers to inform policy and investment decisions. This report documents a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers from 68 countries. The service providers describe providing drinking water services to a population of around 15 million people through over 3 million waterpoints. The data provides information on the scale and sustainability of rural water services to examine: . The extent and type of professional water service provision in rural areas globally;. Self-reported metrics of operational and financial performance;and, . The size and scope of current rural service providers that could transition to resultsbased funding. Five major findings emerge. First, most service providers aim to repair broken infrastructure in three days or less. Second, almost all service providers reported at least one type of water safety activity. Third, most service providers collect payments for water services. Fourth, about one third of service providers reported major negative shocks to their operations from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifth, non-governmental service providers in low income countries less often report receiving subsidies for operations, and more often report paying part of user fees to government, including through taxes. Most rural water service providers are working towards provision of affordable, safe and reliable drinking water services. Key barriers to progress include sustainable funding and delivery of services at scale. We propose four conditions to promote scale and sustainability based on policy alignment, public finance, professional service delivery, and verifiable data. To illustrate these conditions, we consider the differing context and service delivery approaches in the Central African Republic and Bangladesh. We conclude by identifying a group of 77 service providers delivering water services for about 5 million people in 28 countries. These 77 service providers report operational metrics consistent with a results-based contracting approach. Technical assistance might support many more to progress. We argue that government support and investment is needed to rapidly progress to the scale of 100 million people to provide evidence of pathways to universal drinking water services for billions more.

Phygital rural cultural heritage: a digitalisation approach for destination recovery and resilience. (Special Issue: How could rural tourism provide better support for wellbeing and socio-economic development?)

Purpose: This study examines a phygital approach to rural cultural heritage tourism, adopted by a rural community in Sapphaya, Chai Nat Province, Thailand, in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Specifically, it investigates a community's initiatives to amalgamate its physical and digital marketing communications in order to engage with consumers as a strategy for destination recovery and resilience. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative exploratory study involving three stages of action, applying two research approaches: (1) participatory action research (PAR) with Sapphaya's tourism stakeholders, and (2) social media research utilising netnographic analysis of Sapphaya's tourism social enterprise social media pages. Findings: The findings indicate that a phygital rural cultural heritage strategy can facilitate the interconnectivity between a destination's physical and digital dimensions of its cultural heritage tourism product, thereby enhancing its intrinsic value, meaning and experiential perceptions. Specifically, it recommends that a successful community-based phygitalisation strategy requires grassroot engagement across all stages of planning, development, implementation and management of the rural cultural heritage tourism product. Practical Implications: The paper focusses on the cultural heritage tourism strategy adopted by a rural community across the physical-digital-phygital spectrum to augment its sustainable tourism development during a time of crisis. A framework for phygital rural cultural heritage as a strategy for destination resilience and recovery is also proposed. Originality/value: This study adopts a local engagement approach to develop a cooperative community heritage management strategy, based upon local rural capacity building towards digitalisation and empowering innovative partnerships amongst its stakeholders.

A new travel group - digital nomad: concept, evolution, and research progress

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, digital nomads, a group of people who work remotely while traveling, have been emerging as a hot research topic in the global academic community. With the rising number of digital nomads in China, several tourist destinations, such as Dali in Yunnan, and Anji in Zhejiang, have evolved into digital nomad destinations, and this trend is expanding. However, the concept of digital nomads remains relatively unexamined by China's academic community, as evidenced by the limited academic research and considerable lag of academic research behind industry practice. First, this paper establishes the conceptual foundations of digital nomads based on content analysis. It offers a detailed definition established through an exploration of the work, travel, and lifestyle perspectives of digital nomads. Six indicators have been identified to distinguish digital nomads from remote workers, business travelers, and working tourists, including location independence, mobility, work focus, work digitization, precarity, and travel frequency. Further, the characteristics (including the pursuit of freedom, uninterrupted travel, working while traveling, professional and informational literacy, and invasion and integration of the destination culture) and supporting systems (co-spaces, digital and technical support, and economic and social support) are discussed. Next, this paper investigated the origin and evolution of digital nomads through an analysis of the evolutionary paths of work style from nomadic worker to digital knowmad, and from knowledge worker to digital knowledge worker to digital knowmad, the evolution of leisure travel style from backpacker to flashpacker to flashpacker nomad and the evolution of lifestyle from nomad to global/neo-nomad to digital nomad. Finally, the current state of digital nomad research is surveyed, highlighting research themes, key theoretical frameworks, gaps in knowledge, and areas for future research. Insights into digital nomads are explored, including (1) the applicability of conceptual definitions of digital nomads at the operational level, (2) the practical validity of theoretical frameworks for digital nomad research, (3) the impact of digital nomads on the evolution of destinations, the urban-rural development, digital economic development, and the mechanisms involved, and (4) the emerging research on digital nomads in China with a focus on understanding the unique economic, social and cultural characteristics of digital nomads in China compared to other countries. Based on the insights shared in this paper, future research directions for digital nomads are envisaged. This paper establishes a baseline for the research on digital nomads to guide future scholarly attention toward digital nomad research and provide a basis for the development and practical application of relevant theories in the context of the digital economy.

Crisis of capitalism and cycles of right-wing populism in contemporary Turkey: the making and unmaking of Erdoganist hegemony. (Special Issue: Populism, agrarian movements and progressive politics.)

This paper analyses the right-wing populist rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) in Turkey, focusing on the crisis of capitalism, emerging discontent in the rural populations, and opportunities for and obstacles to a successful left-wing populist mobilisation. We put forward three arguments. First, through an examination of the historical evolution, class-based and social-demographic foundations of the ruling right-wing populist alliance between the AKP and the Milliyetci Hareket Partisi (MHP), we argue that the MHP is a more classical case of far-right populism, whereas the AKP is a "heterodox" case that borrows several elements from the left. These "heterodox" features of the AKP, together with the interlinked crisis of the 1990s, played a significant part in the support the AKP received from the subordinate majority. Second, we argue that the success of the AKP's hegemonic right-wing populism from 2002 to 2013 was linked to an unusually favourable macro-political-economic climate that helped the AKP counterbalance its neoliberal policies with pragmatic social assistance programmes. However, together with the disappearance of this macro-political-economic climate in the second decade of its rule (2013-present), the disastrous consequences of the AKP's neoliberal policies became more explicit, and the AKP's populism moved from a hegemonic to an authoritarian right-wing populist type. Third, we claim that today, due to the deepening of the current economic crisis (further exacerbated by the Covid19 pandemic), the AKP's cross-class alliance began to break down, and the rural movements in the Turkish countryside have been playing a major role in unmaking the AKP's hegemony. However, in the absence of a strong left-wing populist movement with a stronghold in the Turkish countryside, emergent possibilities for a radical progressive transformation are not utilised. Instead, the groundwork is being laid for another wave of right-wing populism.

Role of leadership and local culture in COVID-19 control in Bali Province, Indonesia

The increase in positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia since 2020 has led to various control measures, including prevention. One of them is through cultural approach and local wisdom that differs from one region to another, such as the one applied in Bali Province. The purpose of the study was to explore Bali's experience in dealing with COVID-19 from the perspective of culture and local wisdom. A qualitative approach was used in this study using in-depth interviews with the Bali Provincial Disaster Control Office (Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah, BPBD) and the Bali Provincial Health Office. Results of this study showed that the Bali Province has a strong religious approach, consisting of hupokara, which is the faith in the Creator as disaster is believed to be a tremendous force that has to be managed through a ceremony called niskala, which giving offerings to God for health and safety of the people of Bali Province. The Balinese believe that the COVID-19 virus can be controlled with rituals and offerings. The presence of Pecalang as a traditional security unit looked up to and obeyed by the Balinese people also supports the successful management of COVID-19. The unique approach of Bali Province that is based on the local wisdom through mobilizing Traditional Villages, promoting custom-based cooperation through the formation of a task force at the Traditional Village level, and with good leadership from the Governor of Bali has led to successful COVID-19 control in Bali Province. Bali has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that togetherness and mutual cooperation among people are needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the province.

Evaluation of rural tourism in terms of rural development with the COVID-19 pandemic

Rural tourism provides an environment where rural people meet different cultures, prevents immigration to already crowded city centers, becomes an element of rural development, creates income diversity and protects the environment as well as natural, cultural and historical aspects of regions. The aim of this study is to examine effects of COVID-19 pandemic on rural tourism-potential and rural planning using Cizre District, Turkey, which incorporates distinct geographical, cultural and historical elements in a rural environment. Data were collected using primary and secondary sources in the region. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis was used to analyze data which shows an increase in migration to rural causing environmental pollution. Positive effects include increase in commerce and housing demand strengthening the economy following normalization. Findings should help to review and improve sustainable planning and policy strategies supporting new economical environment in rural. The development strategies need to focus on rural and urban being partners rather than rivals.

Economic activity of the rural population: a case study of Ukraine

In the article determined and substantiated that the public opinion that the residents of rural areas, due to less strict observance of the regime of quarantine COVID restrictions on economic activity, lower population density in the settlement network, and technological features of agriculture, suffered smaller losses in terms of employment and income than other strata, turned out to be too optimistic. According to the results of the study, social alienation is increasing as a result of the deterioration of the entire spectrum of social and labour relations. Further research on the chosen subject may be related to strengthening the institutional capacity and financial self-sufficiency of communities due to the decentralization of powers and resources, the transition to a two-level model of inter-budgetary relations, the development of local self-government and changes in the administrative-territorial system, overcoming the social alienation of self-employed persons, provision of force majeure in circumstances similar to the COVID pandemic, economic access to food, health care services, education, culture, transport, and digital infrastructure.

Combating social inequality in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic - the solidarity actions of the landless rural workers movement

The main objective of this article is to present a reflection on the importance of socio-territorial movements in the face of actions to combat social inequality in this pandemic period, 2020-2021. In this sense, the article deals with a debate on COVID-19 and the impacts resulting from this pandemic. It discusses the emergence of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), its solidarity actions and the debate on the Popular Agrarian Reform Plan. This study ends with a presentation of data, resulting from the result of a questionnaire applied online on society's vision of the MST. Finally, the article presents a reflection that highlights the peasantry, which, despite all the subordination that has been going through over the centuries and has been suffering from the impacts arising from the agribusiness development model, has much to contribute to the development of regions, when we see actions that guide new possibilities of producing, consuming and protecting nature, boosting the quality of life in the countryside and in the city.

Social vulnerability and access to food in times of a COVID-19 pandemic: a study in a community in Salvador - Bahia

The social vulnerability and the feeding privation are considered old problems in the country, accentuated in the last years by the political and health crises, reverberating on individuals and families lives, experienced in many different ways. In the face of scarcity and uncertainty, many strategies are adopted to maintain the subsistence. This study aimed to analyze the feeding changes and the survival strategies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the Cabula community, previously a quilombo, in Salvador-BA. It is a qualitative approach study, conducted by semi-structured interviews with residents of the territory. The information was organized and analyzed according to speeches from 8 interviewed people. Were identified three categories to analyze, including the feeding changes and strategies in face of vulnerability status;the food insecurity and the consumption of ultra processed food;and the understandings about the social support during the pandemic. In such a way, the present study evidenced feeding modifications adopted in social vulnerability context, accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in a traditional community. From the speeches, new expressions of food insecurity were observed, as well as the socio-cultural mischaracterization of eating, due to subsistence. The community networks of support takes an important role on the access to food, but brings conflicting feelings, given the absence of a culture of rights. More than guaranteeing the food, it is necessary that the State to keep the rights to exist as social, cultural and ethnic beings.

Studying abroad meets marginalization: Roma of Greece, autoethnography, and academic tourism

While Greece has historically hosted many minority groups in various relational statuses with the majority population, the Roma uniquely embody practical, psychological and metaphorical spaces that sets them apart from other excluded groups. This study explores the historico-social space that separates the Roma and contextualizes recent developments, including Covid-19, which further marginalizes the group. The transactional space that defines relations between Roma and non-Roma encompasses a 'gaze' that disenfranchises Gypsy cultural standing and reduces mutual understanding between mainstream and marginalized communities. This same transactional space is rife with misunderstanding that profits normative day-to-day relations between Roma and those in mainstream society. The paper explores perceptions of the Roma within the Greek social hierarchy, while suggesting study abroad programming, as part of academic tourism, can play a positive role in altering perceptions of minority groups.

Socio-territorial movements, women and food donation in Brazil: solidarity campaigns as resistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Estudos agrarios criticos e COVID-19: movimentos socioterritoriais e luta pela terra no Brasil.)

In Brazil, during the COViD-19 pandemic, the deepening of the issue of serious food insecurity and violence against women became one of the main impacts enhanced by the stance adopted by the government of Jair Messias Bolsonaro. In view of this, different subjects, organized into socio-territorial movements in the countryside and in the city, carried out resistance actions to mitigate these problems, with solidarity as a nucleating element. This work analyzes the actions of peasant women in food donation campaigns based on the paradigmatic debate, through bibliographic surveys, systematization of quantitative data and interviews. Women are at the center of actions aimed at the campaigns, characterized by the diversity of identities of the participating subjects, with donations of lunch-boxes, baskets, hygiene/cleaning products, etc. Such actions are based on the Paradigm of the Agrarian Question, as they seek to overcome the structural problems of capital and propose socio-territorial changes for a new model of society, based on social justice and the promotion of popular agrarian reform.

Pandemic, MST solidarity actions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (Estudos agrarios criticos e COVID-19: movimentos socioterritoriais e luta pela terra no Brasil.)

The Landless Workers' Movement (MST) has participated in several solidarity actions since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, above all, the donations of food produced in land reform territories (settlements) and in land struggle territories (camps). Food donations highlight the importance of agrarian reform for food production, the reduction of social inequalities, the promotion of agroecology and food sovereignty. All these elements are intrinsic to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations. This study highlights the importance of agrarian reform and the contribution of movements to achieve the SDGs, in a context in which the State moves in the opposite direction to what is proposed by the Agenda. The data on solidarity actions were collected on social networks and on the MST website, systematized in a spreadsheet and mapped with the Philcarto software. Results are discussed with the support of bibliographies, UN documents and interviews with MST leaders. The analysis indicate that socio-territorial movements have been building sustainable territories that contribute to the SDGs.

EIDs and the intersectional health/livelihoods paradox in the rural global south

This article presents the framework of the intersectional health/livelihoods paradox to analyse how political economic processes incur land use change to create vulnerability to infectious disease, but that in contending with these risks rural people negotiate conflicts with livelihoods. The conflicts and trade-offs people make in deliberating over health and livelihood outcomes because of ecological degradation are distributed unevenly through lines of social difference, such as gender and class. While the health/livelihoods paradox is evident within contexts of vulnerability to infectious disease, it is poignant when considering the impacts of interventions and containment strategies to control outbreaks in rural settings. Despite considerable attention on the urban context of disease surveillance, spread and containment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this article refocuses analysis of the impacts of emerging infectious disease (EID) in rural contexts. The article shifts attention away from analysis of the problematic practices of rural households that undertake livelihood activities such as harvesting of wildlife for consumption, to a nexus between land use change, ecologies, livelihoods and health. The literature is fragmented in terms of the landscapes explored, developmental processes, species dynamics, diseases and social contexts. Therefore, this article presents a framework that enables complex dynamics such as these, that lead people to make compromises between competing health and livelihood outcomes to be examined.

The beach is closed, but not to us: pandemic experience and social boundaries in rural Okinawa. (Special Issue: Hybrid beliefs and identities.)

This article offers an anthropological and ethnographic perspective on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected and shaped rural community social behaviour in Kayo village during Japan's first official state of emergency, April 7th to May 6th, 2020. It draws from observations and informal conversations with villagers during this period. First, it discusses the researcher's experience of living in a rural village in northern Okinawa during the state of emergency and addresses the position of the ethnographer during the pandemic. It explores the Japanese concept of uchi/soto (inside/outside), to discuss the insider/outsider dynamics that characteriseeveryday social life in Okinawa. Secondly, it engages with Marshall Sahlins's (2013) idea of kinship as 'social mutuality' to consider how the pandemic invites us to rethink interpersonal relationships, space negotiation, and social boundaries, and how the latter are reconstructed and negotiated according to the new situation (emergency state). The example of Okinawa rural communities shows how rural populations can reconceptualise their environment and practices during the pandemic. It allows us to understand how notions of space, accessibility and kinship are reshaped into subtle boundaries between locals and outsiders in order toregulate access.

On modeling actual socio-economic factors and development trends in the Republic of Uzbekistan

As a result of the increased level of uncertainty and variability of the socioeconomic environment, the influence of various social pathologies (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic, etc.) has grown, that have significant negative consequences for the functioning of society. Modeling the most important factors and trends in social development will help to resist the impact of modern negative changes. From the analysis of the socio-economic development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, it is obvious that there exists the effect of all those factors and trends in social development that are positive and are primarily associated with STP (including the digitalization of society), as well as the effect of negative factors associated with various social pathologies. The strategy of development of the Uzbek economy is aimed at strengthening the former and limiting the latter.

Women and adolescent girls' experience with COVID-19 in rural Senegal. (Policy Note.)

Senegal reported its first case of COVID-19 on 2 March 2020. The government responded within two weeks, introducing preventive measures to slow the spread of the virus, including the declaration of a public health emergency, border closures, and the prohibition of intercity travel and gatherings. This brief presents the results of a telephone survey conducted approximately three months after the declaration of the state of emergency and shows how Senegalese women and adolescent girls (n=3003) living in rural areas have experienced the crisis. Survey results are discussed under the following headings: (1) preventive measures;(2) aid and assistance;(3) information and perceptions;(4) consequences of COVID-19;and (5) trends in food security and women's wellbeing.

The impact of COVID 19 on the Czech stock market

COVID-19 has increased suffering in various sectors of life and affected people's daily lives worldwide. It has significantly impacted the health, economic and social fields. The Czech Republic is one of the countries hit hard by the epidemic, which led to its closure several times. This paper empirically examines the impact of COVID-19 on stock prices in the Czech Republic with the help of the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds Test. The daily closing prices of the stock index, P.X., from 22/03/2020 to 21/02/2022 were used for the Analysis. The results reveal that the Czech stock market was negatively affected during the pandemic;this effect was short-term and long-term.

Critical agrarian studies and COVID-19: socio-territorial movements and the struggle for land in Brazil. (Estudos agrarios criticos e COVID-19: movimentos socioterritoriais e luta pela terra no Brasil.)

This dossier seeks to present critical studies, views and multidisciplinary knowledge from an emancipatory perspective on the agrarian issue in Brazil, its expressions, and counter-hegemonic processes of social struggles in the context of COVID-19. In order to build horizontal and cross-cutting dialogues, this dossier focuses on gender representation and the heterogeneity of themes, socio-territorial movements, academic backgrounds and Brazilian regions to understand one of the most contradictory realities on the planet in "pandemic capitalism", as can be appreciated by readers in the nine articles that make up this dossier.