Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
A.Stenning,A.Słowik(Edited),Post-AccessionMigrationinEuropeaPolishCaseStudy,Kraków2011
ISBN:978-83-7587-702-1,©byOficynaWydawnicza„Impuls”2011
10
Post-AccessionMigrationinEuropeaPolishCaseStudy
highlightanaspectofmigrationandsettlementwhichisoftenneglected.In-
tegrationisnotalwaysjustaboutinteractionswithlocalpopulations,learning
thelanguageandparticipatinginworkinglife;relationshipswiththemateriality
ofplace,aswellasitsmeaningsandpractices(Cresswell,2009,p.169),arealso
keyinanchoringmigrantsintheirnewsurroundings.Teemotionaldimensions
ofbelonginghaveastrongmaterialelementtothem,connecting,ornot,to
thephysical,builtandconsumedenvironment.
Moregenerally,migrants’experiencesclearlyvaryenormouslyfromplaceto
place.Polishmigrants’participationintradeunionactivities,forexample,is
showntobeunevenacrossBritain.Whiletherehasbeensomesuccessininclu-
dingA8migrantsinthesouth,Seller’spaperillustratesthescopewhichremains
toreachouttorecentmigrantsinthenortheast.Servicesvarytoo,acrossplaceand
alsoacrosstime,asWhite’spaperalsoshows.Teseobservations,whenconsid-
eredalongsideotherworkwhichhighlightstheurbanorruralpeculiaritiesofmi-
grants’lives(Datta,2009;Taylor&Rogaly,2004),remindushowdifficultitisto
makenationalgeneralisationsaboutthesettlementpracticesandexperiencesof
anymigrants.KarczemskiandBoer’spaperonPolishmigrantsinTeHagueex-
emplifiesthiswell.Tereareclearlymanysimilaritiesbetweentheexperiences
ofPolishmigrantsacrossdifferentEuropeancountries,butthelocaldimensions
arestillfundamentaltotheseexperiences.TeHagueisaveryspecificsetting,
attractingmorePolishmigrantsthanmostplacesinTeNetherlands,andso
offersmoreopportunitiesforsocialinteractionbutalsomorechancesformi-
grantstoforgetheirlivesoutsideofethnicboundaries.Werethisresearchon
Polishmigrants’networkstobeundertakeninasmalltowninTeNetherlands
thefindingswouldundoubtedlybequitedifferent.
WorkisalsoclearlyanotherhighlylocaliseddynamicofA8migrationmove-
ments.Whilethenatureandextentofjobsavailablewillinevitablyvaryfrom
placetoplace,Judd’spaperalsoillustrateshowimportantanewmigrantwork-
forcecanbetobroaderlocalstructures,inthiscasecareprovision.Socialintegra-
tionreceivesconsiderableattentionamongmigrationresearchers,yetanappreci-
ationoftheeconomic!embeddedness’ofmigrantlabourinlocaleconomiesisjust
asvaluableforunderstandingthemanylocalimpactsofmigration,onmigrants
andtheexistingpopulations(forexamplesee:Stenningetal.,2006;forLon-
donsee:McDowelletal.,2009;fortheWestMidlandssee:Greenetal.,2007).
PersonalExperiences
Inadditiontotheirstronglocalcontextualisations,thesepapersalsoof-
ferimportantinsightsintothebiographicalexperiencesofmigration;theyareper-
son-centredaswellasplace-centred.Collectivelythepapersillustratethediffe-
rentemotionaldimensionsofmigratingtoanewcountry;thephenomenalroleof