Paper short abstract:

Through the lens of property ownership discourse this article will explore the processes through which new ‘self’ is formatted and negotiated; strategies that people choose to exploit in order to better define one’s position in the world of mismatching social expectations and personal aspirations.

Paper long abstract:

Property ownership could be used as a prism to see the process of 'self' development. Taking the example of the British in Spain one can examine the deeper relationships with notions of 'successful' and 'responsible' person. Social obligations of 'owning a house', 'taking out a mortgage' and 'taking care of your family' are getting detached from reality and questioned by a lot of British who choose to relocate to Spain. Those aspirations that contextually have been introduced to generations of people by their neo-liberal government and social consensus fail to match new aspirations of people about being free of financial obligations, being spontaneous and follow ones instincts: eat when you're hungry and sleep when you're tired. My paper explores what are the strategies that people use to overcome the mismatch between their reality, preconceived ideas of who they should be and their aspirations of whom they want to become. Further, the proposed paper would explore the process of reflecting new 'self' through adjustment to the new environment while renovating their dwellings: one's negotiation of the performative roles of the 'self' like 'owner', 'dweller', 'citizen', 'renovation specialist', 'power holder', and 'decision maker'.