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There is ample evidence that foreigners suffer from discrimination when trying to integrate. Extreme situations, however, can alter the population's attitude towards foreigners. One example of such an extreme situation is the position of Ukrainians in Poland since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It drastically changed the composition and share of the foreign-born population in Poland. In this paper, we examined the attitude towards people with Ukrainian-sounding and other foreign-sounding names in Poland, and whether it has changed. We used an experimental approach, within which we contacted amateur football coaches asking to join a trial training session using typical native- and Belarussian-, German-, and Ukrainian-sounding names. Half of the clubs received an additional signal showing support for Ukraine. Furthermore, a limited subset of participants completed post-experiment surveys. The survey gave us an opportunity to understand why the respondents discriminate. The results show that people with foreign-sounding names receive fewer responses. Surprisingly, people with Ukrainian names are the exception. They received more responses than natives. Signaling support for Ukraine had a positive but not statistically significant effect on the response rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper looks at one of the most dynamically evolving migration processes in contemporary Europe – labour migrants in Poland. Poland, until very recently a typical emigration country started receiving large numbers of migrants only after 2014. This process, however, cannot be explained in supply terms only. In fact, it was also a strong structural demand for foreign workers that played at least an equally important role. This newly established migration system has been tested during the pandemic along with policy adjustments and economic changes. We claim that despite the very fact that the 'essential workers' rhetoric was almost absent in the Polish public discourse, foreign workers played a significant role in securing the continuous operation of many sectors of the economy. The paper shows that the role of migration in Poland has changed along with the transition from a net-sending to a net-receiving country, but still it worked as a safety valve during the pandemic. We argue it was possible because of liberal rules regarding international movement and work abroad. By focusing on the role of exogenous shocks and by considering the very specific migration system in Poland, this paper contributes to the growing literature on the labour market-immigration nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows how the hierarchised nature of the EU mobility regime is underpinned by member states' policies in a major country of emigration such as Poland. Drawing on historical institutionalism, this paper documents the path-dependent approach regarding policies that have contributed to the outflow of Polish workers and simultaneously to meet the demand for labour at home. While concerns about the consequences of emigration were raised already in 2005, Polish governments have kept defending the EU policies that underpin this outflow and its hierarchised nature. Rather than to improve the rights of Polish mobile workers, Polish governments have defended companies' rights to use 'wage competitiveness' as a method of increasing mobility. In response to the increasing demand in the domestic labour market, governments first tried return campaigns, but they have since turned to importing labour, especially from Ukraine. In this way, the policies of the Polish state have helped reaffirm the hierarchised nature of the EU mobility regime by exporting workers to be subjected to poor conditions abroad while importing Ukrainian workers to experience poor conditions at home. Thus, Poland occupies an unusual place in the 'migration chain', being, simultaneously, a source of as well as a destination for migrant workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on migration and racism usually focuses on Western, highly skilled migrants working in global cities who reproduce racial postcolonial hierarchies or on less-privileged, low-skilled migrants and refugees, whose situation is analysed in terms of experienced racial prejudices. Our article aims to fill the gap related to the in-between category of middling migrants and to analyse their relations with neoliberalism and racism. By drawing on qualitative research, the paper examines racial neoliberalism and the question of how racism operates in the everyday life of middling migrants. In contrast to the nascent literature on middling migrants, we focus less on their experiences of racism as how migrants' neoliberal subjectivity contributes to the strengthening of racism. Our analysis demonstrates that middling migrants not only evoke the neoliberal hierarchy of desirable and undesirable migrants but also, through neoliberal subjectivity, reproduce the neoliberal logic of silencing and marginalising racism as a social problem. We argue that, paradoxically, although middling migrants are not openly racist and often become victims of racism themselves, they nevertheless contribute to maintaining the conditions for racism to exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much medical travel happens, but it is misleading to label it as 'medical tourism'. Rather, patterns of travel reflect a range of drivers: from longstanding cultural, economic and political ties to the country providing treatment, to word-of-mouth networks. Poland provides a particularly interesting case, as it has been touted as the leading medical tourism destination for UK medical travellers in Europe; marketing by Polish providers is advanced and there is strong government support for the industry. In this paper examining data from the UK's International Passenger Survey for the past 15 years, we demonstrate that, while travel to Poland has indeed increased dramatically, much of this actually reflects a wider pattern of Polish migrants living in the UK and returning to Poland for medical care rather than increased 'medical tourism' consumer activity by Britons in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews seasonal migration from Poland to Germany from the perspective of gender. The main lenses used are the participation in this migration by individuals as members of families, the informal recruitment mechanisms that bring new migrants on board, and the legal environment. The paper argues that the selection of a migrant by the family depends importantly on the costs of migration for the family, and shows how this consideration bears on the choice of women as seasonal migrants. In addition, the paper argues that the patterns of recruitment are gender-specific, explains why women recruit new migrants in a manner which differs from that of men, and assesses the impact of the underlying legal environment on the differential participation of women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the literature on migrant networks, the constitutive role of employers and recruiting actors remains underexposed, despite a persistent economic demand for migrant labour which is cheap, readily available and easily dismissed. Aiming to further understand how the recruitment of migrant labour by employers is organised, this paper focuses on the example of international employment agencies (IEAs). It is argued that these agencies are currently the anchors of the circular labour migration between Poland and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, temporary staffing is a fully legal and common phenomenon, allowing agencies to transfer part of the Polish employment from the underground to a more visible presence. When viewed through the lens of geographical and work-organisation literature on the issue of labour flexibility, these migrant workers could be named migrant flexiworkers. Apart from analysing the origins and current functioning of the IEAs, the paper discusses their development prospects and other more normative aspects of migrant flexiwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the emotional coexistence of three groups of Polish migrants in the UK. In particular it focuses on how this coexistence is reflected in narratives-in-interaction produced by members of Polish communities. Methodologically the paper is anchored in a constructivist view of emotions, when they are seen as discursive practice, as way of speaking, rather than as some internal states associated with physiological conditions of our bodies. Consequently, discourse and narrative analysis is my chosen way to analyse emotions in a given research area of Polish migration. The data come from my current project on leisure activities as well as cultural consumption among Polish migrants and were collected in established Polish 'centres' in the UK. My informants belong to three different groups of immigrants: 1) post-World War Two immigration; 2) post-1989/pre-enlargement immigration; and 3) post-enlargement immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the effects of migration since 1989 for Poland, Hungary and the Czech and Slovak Republics – countries which have been crucially affected by the opening of borders to the European Union. There has not only been migration from these countries, but also into these countries; the former has declined and the latter has increased in the last ten years. The paper argues, however, that this migration most often takes the form of short-term circulatory movements. It considers a number of factors which account for this and explain why migration is not as high as had been expected (and feared) and why it might be better described as mobility. The paper goes on to consider the effects of migration on the host societies, especially in terms of xenophobia, using the World Values Survey data for 1980, 1990 and 1995 and the New Democracies Barometer for 1998. Finally, the paper considers the role of migration in these countries in relation to an enlarged EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poland's accession to the European Union in May 2004 brought many new possibilities and opportunities for Polish migrants to Britain. However, the focus on individual migrants has underestimated the complex roles of families in migration strategies and decision-making. Based on a qualitative study of recent Polish migrants in London, this paper explores the varied dynamics of family relationships, including caring, support and obligation. We examine how families may be reconfigured in different ways through migration. Transnational networks and splits within families are also discussed. We conclude that, in exploring family migration, it is necessary to go beyond a household perspective to appreciate the diversity of transnational and inter-generational relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines forecasts of international migration between Poland and the EU. It focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the methodology and results of some of these forecasts from a demographic point of view. The first issue considered is the diversity of forms of international mobility of population and its significance for migration forecasting. Then the impact of the difference in definitions of international migrations and differences in migration data arising from them are discussed. An estimate of the maximum net migration from Poland to the European Union based on historic flows is made. This information is used to evaluate the feasibility of selected forecasts of international migration from Poland after entry to the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]