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Numerous studies in the field of international migration focus on utilizing migrant networks in migration process, outlining their role in the choice of destination country as well as in the job search process. However, relatively few of the studies discuss migrant networks' role in the choice of a specific location within destination cities. This paper contributes to this research area by providing additional insights into the motives behind choosing place of residence by immigrants in contemporary European cities. In our paper, we use data of a tailor‐made survey of 610 Polish immigrants, who emigrated from Poland to the UK shortly after 2004, that is, after opening of the British labour market for Polish citizens. Our study results reveal that propensity towards living in the Polish neighbourhood is inversely correlated with migrants' English language proficiency. Moreover, we discover that networking within the Polish diaspora is to a large extent limited to family and close acquaintances, which most likely results from the limited generalized trust towards other Poles. Based on our study results, we argue that settling in geographical proximity of migrant's ethnic group is likely to maintain its relevance in the contemporary cities, especially in case of immigrants with poor destination language skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a qualitative study of recent Polish migrants in London (). The paper reveals the roles that different family members played in the migration narratives of these Polish migrants. In order to gain a broader understanding of migration patterns, it is necessary to explore what is meant by 'the family' and how this may operate transnationally. By examining spatially dispersed relationships, the paper aims to contribute to an understanding of transnational families. In addition, by highlighting the various ways in which families may be split, reunited, and reshaped through the process of migration, the paper argues for a need to explore the shifting ties between relatives 'here' and 'there'. The paper explores the dynamism of these relationships over time in the context of specific immigration regimes and the interplay with local attachments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when the belief in a welfare crisis is being connected to a so‐called "migration crisis", in particular in the United Kingdom, it is important to look at the lived experiences of mobile EU citizens and the influence of transnational social protection practices. The article introduces the concept of a "migration‐welfare corridor" – as opposed to the widespread welfare magnet hypothesis – taking into consideration the role of welfare systems in origin and destination countries at different stages of a migrant's life cycle, the changing nature of the welfare habitus as well as migrants' attitudes towards what can be defined as welfare chauvinism. Looking specifically at the case of Spanish and Polish migrants in the UK who have reacted to this protracted environment of deterrence, particularly in respect to their welfare rights, this paper discusses several dimensions that should be taken into consideration when analyzing transnational social protection practices from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poland's accession to the European Union in May 2004 brought many new possibilities and opportunities for Polish migrants to the United Kingdom. However, the focus on individual migrants has underestimated the complex roles of families in migration strategies and decision making. This paper brings together data from two studies of Polish migrants in London. In 2006-2007, we carried out a qualitative study, Recent Polish Migrants in London. That research examined how families may be reconfigured in different ways through migration, for example, transnational networks and splits within families. While the study participants represented varied examples of family reunification, they also revealed the complex decision making processes about leaving, staying, rejoining and returning. In our most recent study, Polish Children in London Primary Schools, we interviewed parents, who had migrated with children, about their experiences and expectations of London schools. This study revealed that the age of children was usually a factor in family migration decision making. There was a common expectation that younger children could easily adapt to a new school and learn English quickly. Drawing on the findings of these two studies, this paper will explore firstly, the variety of family migration strategies and secondly, the factors that inform migrants' decisions to bring their families (especially children) or to leave them back home. Finally, the paper concludes by considering some of the policy implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a recently completed qualitative study in a northern English city, this paper explores motivations and experiences of Accession 8 (A8) migrants who have entered the United Kingdom following the expansion of the European Union in 2004. The paper considers commonalities and differences among the group of migrants routinely referred to as A8 migrant workers/labourers. Diversity is apparent in three particular respects: first, the motivations and forms of movement undertaken; second, their experiences of work within the UK paid labour market; and third, the extent to which the act and experience of migration offers new individual and collective opportunities and potentially opens up spaces for people to negotiate structural constraints and reconfigure aspects of their identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Following EU enlargement in 2004, the United Kingdom and Ireland experienced large‐scale migration from Poland and other new EU states. The Poles who migrated to both jurisdictions were demographically similar and have faced similar challenges although these have begun to diverge in the context of Brexit. Previous research emphasized the intentional unpredictability of many Polish migrants who deferred decisions whether to settle or return which appears to account for limited political incorporation in both the Irish and UK cases prior to Brexit. This literature also examined how such migrants have become socially embedded but not politically integrated. Drawing on surveys conducted in Ireland and the UK during 2018, we highlight predicaments arising from the thin nature of EU citizenship which allowed for free movement but has neglected political integration. In the Irish case, we suggest that EU migrants, including Poles, are likely to remain detached from citizenship and political participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on empirical data from 37 Bulgarian students and young professionals in the UK, this article explores the intersection of the discourses produced by the European crises and migrants' national identity. In Bulgaria, the crisis narrative is embedded in the arguably never‐ending democratic transition, manifested in socio‐economic instability and political volatility. Simultaneously, "Brexit Britain" is enveloped in strong Eurosceptic sentiments, propelled by a combination of austerity measures and intensified Eastern European migratory flows. Both contexts subject Bulgarian migrants to stigmatizing representations. Looking at migrants' everyday practices, the data reveals that young Bulgarians draw on the related ideas of the "new" Enlightener and Ambassador to counterbalance negative discourses. Thus, the article explores the meanings and significance attributed to the Enlighteners and the Ambassadors, arguing that the participants engage in "social creativity" and "individual mobility" strategies that lead to reinvention of national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We bring into dialogue the migrant identities of young Irish immigrants in the UK and young returnees in Ireland. We draw on 38 in‐depth interviews (20 in the UK and 18 in Ireland), aged 20–37 at the time of interview, carried out in 2015–16. We argue that "stretching" identities – critical and reflective capabilities to interpret long histories of emigration and the neglected economic dimension – need to be incorporated into conceptualizing "crisis" migrants. Participants draw on networks globally, they choose migration as a temporary "stop‐over" abroad, but they also rework historical Irish migrant identities in a novel way. Becoming an Irish migrant or a returnee today is enacted as a historically grounded capability of mobility. However, structural economic constraints in the Irish labour market need to be seriously considered in understanding return aspirations and realities. These findings generate relevant policy ideas in terms of relations between "crisis" migrants and the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaining citizenship in the UK requires applicants to pass a "Life in the UK" test and (if successful) attend a citizenship ceremony. Critics of this policy agenda assert that it exacerbates exclusion of an already vulnerable and disadvantaged population. The UK government justifies the requirements in part on the basis that they facilitate integration, thus enhancing immigrants' lives. This article, using data from the UK longitudinal household survey ("Understanding Society") considers outcomes for immigrants by investigating whether gaining citizenship in the current period is associated with immigrants' subjective well‐being. Results from regression models and matching analyses show that participating in the citizenship process (or not) is not generally associated with individuals' life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The history of Polish immigration within the United Kingdom is several centuries old. Yet never in its history was such a mass migration as that after the Polish accession to the EU in 2004. During the over ten years that followed, almost a million Poles chose to settle in the United Kingdom. This article reviews and analyses past and present Polish emigration to the United Kingdom. It provides answers to questions regarding who the Polish immigrants are, what work they perform and how they have integrated within British society. It also considers the factors that have influenced the future dynamics of migration from Poland. Based on these, we have formed the hypothesis that while the years of 2004‐2016 saw, statistically, the largest emigration from Poland to the United Kingdom in recorded history, in the future, the number of Polish expatriates living in the United Kingdom will drop or at least the number of newcomers will decrease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advocates of the 'borderless world' thesis suggest that migrant workers can benefit from employment opportunities available everywhere, with workers simply migrating towards these opportunities. However, as global inequalities widen and potential global mobilities develop, states are 'managing' migration. Individual migrant 'agency', its structuration, and the subsequent experiences of migrants and employers, can restrict such mobility. Consequently, there is a need to describe and problematize the new strategies. This article considers these issues with reference to the emerging impact of the migrant cap on non-European Economic Area ( EEA) migrants to the United Kingdom ( UK). It explores the links between immigration and employment rights and the implications for migrant mobility. Policies of 'managed migration' frequently do not take into account issues of geography and intra and inter regional competition for migrants by employers operating in sectors with skill shortages, or differential migrant 'agency' in the form of their skills and attributes. This may impinge on the effectiveness of such approaches and on economic prosperity at a national, regional and local scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration plays an important role in shaping contemporary society in the European Union (EU), with constituent countries being affected differently. As a result of the most recent expansion of the EU in 2004, the United Kingdom (UK) has experienced an influx of economic migrants from former 'Eastern Bloc' countries, including many young people from Poland. In this study, we explore the experiences of a group of nine young Polish adults living, studying and working in the UK. Three of the nine participants were co-researchers in this participatory action research, equipping them with the tools to undertake a narrative enquiry. The resultant narratives outline emergent themes and subthemes: including reasons for coming to and staying in the UK; first impressions of and changing opinions about life in the UK; the impact of visits to Poland; and plans for the future. The data add to the literature by providing a unique developmental perspective of the changing experiences of living in the UK; and give some insight into the life impacts of migration in contemporary Europe, amongst young people in their twenties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how post-2004 Polish immigrants in Great Britain narrate success and failure in their lives. It identifies and analyses inter-related narrations specific to the transnational form of migration. It considers migrants' transnational orientation as a resource for narratively producing a successful biography. The article makes use of a biographical perspective and embeds the analysis in theories of biographical action, while adding new knowledge to the scholarship of migration. It argues that failure is relative to a normatively, locally fixed expectation of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to the exploration of Polish and Lithuanian migrants' work experiences in the United Kingdom. It argues that it is hard to categorize these individuals as highly skilled or low-skilled because, in spite of their relatively high qualifications, they often occupy low-skilled positions in the United Kingdom. Therefore, the article suggests that these migrants are 'middling transnationals' (). Although they are classified as economic migrants, many of them have migrated to the United Kingdom not only in order to earn money but also to try life abroad, see the world, or learn English. Following Bourdieu's terminology, the article suggests ways in which migrants use different cultural capital (skills, qualifications, social environment) to enhance their economic capital in the United Kingdom, but also ways in which these different forms of migrants' capital are interrelated. The findings suggest that Eastern Europeans are highly mobile in the British labour market. Provided they possess necessary linguistic skills, migrants progress from 'any job' to a 'better job' in search of a 'dream job'. The article emphasises that this transition in the British labour market became easier after Poles and Lithuanians became EU citizens, whereby they were granted the right to work and improved access to education services in the United Kingdom. The article also argues that viewing migrants' work experiences in the context of their future plans helps to understand better why working below qualifications is acceptable to many East Europeans in the United Kingdom. This is either because it helps them maximise their income and return to their home country as soon as possible, or because a low-skilled position helps them to improve other skills (e.g., English) and serves as a stepping stone to better career opportunities in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the issue of the dramatic rise of street homelessness in London among Polish migrants from the perspective of social anthropology looking at the relationship between structural constraints faced by Polish migrants and their own perception of the social world, their meaning-making practices, norms and values, behavioral patterns. As I will show, focusing just on structural and economic determinants not only offers a simplistic and one-dimensional picture but it also fails to give an explanation and predict what happens if these constraints and exclusionary policies are removed and homeless migrants gain the same set of social rights as the rest of British and EU citizens (which in theory will happen in May 2011). An anthropological approach to the functions, roles and cultural meanings of homelessness, group bonds, masculinities, alcohol consumption, perception of the state and dominant society as voiced by homeless migrants I 'hanged around' with, reveals that structurally rejected people with particular backgrounds reconstruct communities and form strong ties despite (or because of) a hostile, exclusionary and hegemonic social environment of the neoliberal order. Two conclusions are drawn from this analysis, empirical and theoretical: first, taking both structural and cultural factors into account, the levels of homeless among that group is going to rise, at least in London; second, the set of cultural forms of behavior and social practices described in academic literature as the homo sovieticus syndrome (Wedel 1986, Sztompka 2000, Morawska 1998) proves not only valuable and resourceful in highly individualized, neoliberal and capitalistic society but may in fact be reinforced in new conditions being a productive - socially and culturally - counter-reaction to the neoliberal order of social life in the global city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on remittances focuses on economic motivations, with little emphasis on the social contexts in which the remittance economy operates. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews with migrant workers in a London hotel and hospital, we examine how migrants' familial and social relationships in both sending and receiving countries inform the decision to send remittances. We suggest that remittances are a mechanism through which migrants are able to fulfil multiple obligations to families and places of origin, while also enhancing their own economic status and future. First, satisfying the cultural expectation of sending remittances helps migrants maintain their social worlds at 'home'. Second, we observed that both positive and negative changes in power and resources influence the decision to send remittances by motivating migrants to invest in their social position in either their home or receiving country. In sum, we argue that the migrants' social experience in the United Kingdom might be just as predictive of remittance behaviour as their economic and social status in the country of origin. We, therefore, call for a need to move beyond the often one-sided concern with development by concentrating on the overlapping social worlds of migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author considers the impact of gender on migration habits of populations in the West Indies. At issue is the movement of West Indians to the United States Canada and to Great Britain in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In comparing immigrant streams to three different destinations the author seeks to illustrate a number of questions including their reception in host countries and the role of immigration in forming attitudes about gender differences among West Indian immigrants.