Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ISTANBUL UNIVERSITESI SOSYOLOJI DERGISI-ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, cilt.45, sa.2, ss.510-537, 2025 (ESCI, TRDizin)
This study examines the digitalised dimensions of migration during polycrises that increasingly restrict physical mobility and introduces digitalised migration as an analytical framework through the case of the government-supported e-Residency programme. Using Estonia's e-Residency as an example, the study conceptualises the integration of digital identity holders into Estonia's economic and administrative systems as virtual mobility, highlighting emerging migrant subjectivities and contributing to contemporary migration debates. Employing a data collection and analysis process that integrates traditional and innovative methods, this study examines the dynamics driving individuals towards transnational virtual mobility during periods of polycrisis and identifies the opportunities and limitations of this digitalised migration form. First, user comments on Turkish-language YouTube videos about Estonia's e-Residency programme were gathered and analysed to explore digital discussions using clustering algorithms and interpretive content analysis. Second, in-depth interviews were conducted with e-Residents and field experts, and the resulting data were analysed through interpretive content analysis. The findings reveal the potential, opportunities, limitations, and risks of e-Residency as a digitalised migration infrastructure, particularly its role in strengthening individual resilience amid economic instability, armed conflict, and global health emergencies. They also underscore the economic and intangible advantages that digitalised migration offers to source and destination countries in the era of polycrisis.