LONDON’S POLISH BORDERS Class and Ethnicity of Global City Migrants **** Embassy of the Republic of Poland London, 17 May 2006 Michał P. Garapich CRONEM University of Surrey/Roehampton University Jagiellonian University, Kraków
The arguments n Accelerating non-linear migration chain – more to come n Breaking through class n Fragmentation of the community n Whiteness as resource
Word on methodology n Qualitative research – complementary to quantitative n Participant observation n Multi-local ethnography n 50 in-depth interviews with Polish migrants in London n 14 interviews with family and friends of migrants in 5 locations in Poland (urban/rural areas)
Sample n 23 F, 27 M n 28% below 25 n 58% 25 -40 n 10% 40 up n 22% high edu, 68% sec’y edu, 10% students n 28% rural, 40% below 50 k town, 32% 50 k up
Transnational Europeans – looking both ways n Circular, temporal, open-ended migrations n 80% make frequent (sometimes up to 10 times a year) visits to Poland checking out the situation n 70% of respondents maintain strong economic and life interest in their home community n 24% have bought or are just about to buy a flat or house in Poland from money earned in London
Chain migration n 60% have arranged employment/accommodation or useful tips for newcomers (migration chain brokers) n 40% have received such help at the beginning n Polish end of the research – growing readiness to migrate
Should I stay or should I go…. ? n 20% say that they are definitely going to come back soon to live in Poland n 14% say that they will definitely not come back to Poland And the rest?
Intentional unpredictability most common statements: n n “Hard to answer that question. Being there [in Poland] last time for the first time I felt that I would like to stay there… so I don’t know…” (INT 9 Lon. Laura) “I don’t know. No clue. Maybe yes, maybe not; maybe in three months maybe in ten years. I don’t know…” (INT 30 Lon. Kordian) “I don’t know…I’m not able to say now…” (INT 4 Lon. Pawel) “I want to come back… but don’t know when” (INT 20 Lon. Wojciech)
How long do you think you will stay in the UK? (WRS question) n 50% – NOT STATED! (total answers: 175, 507 between May 2004 and Dec 2005)
n Intentional unpredictability adapted to: n Deregulated, flexible, contractual London service economy and UK labour market in general n Socio-economic situation in Poland n Allows to shift their plans accordingly n Helps to keep the best of both worlds
Breaking through class n Class? What class? n Individualism n Moving n Two and the myth of meritocracy out = moving up reference points in constructing a class position
Ethnicity – double edged sword n Competition on the same market n Risk of being exploited by co-ethnics – national sentiment trap n Fear of association with the wrong crowd, shame, fear of loss of reputation
n Q: “You travel on the LU and there are some drunken Poles loudly swearing. What do you feel? ” n A: “What I feel? Disgust because I’m also a Pole and simply I… automatically think that people who were looking kindly at me before may change their mind because they will associate them with me… and that once I get a drink I would behave like them… “ (INT 21 Lon. Waldemar)
End of community K. Sword – “community is in decline” (1994) n Fragmentation of the community; rise of complex set of sub-groups, formal and informal transnational networks n London’s Superdiversity (Stephen Vertovec 2005) – not only ethnic, cultural but also shaped by migration patterns, diversity of transnational migrants’ strategies
Multiculturalism through Polish eyes n Enthusiastic approach – educational value n Pragmatic approach – “everyone can make it here”, “I got used to it” n Racist approach – colour coded n Self-criticism - 80% say that Poles are intolerant and that they could not imagine London’s multiculturalism in Poland
Whiteness as resource: n Construction n Attitudes of European identity of British society towards Polish migrants
n “ The New Europeans are hard-working, n “ We have no problem with immigration from presentable, well educated, and integrate so perfectly that they will disappear within a generation” (Anthony Browne, The Spectator, Jan 26 2006) Poland, which is valuable to all sides… The government must make a reduction in numbers from elsewhere. What they could do is reduce the number of work permits for the rest of the world. ” (Sir Andrew Green, BBC Today, Nov 20 2005)
Conclusions n More to come – sustainable migration system n Social advancement – intentional unpredictability, double reference n Fragmentation n Pragmatic of community approach to ethnicity – whiteness as resource
Preliminary report will be available on: http: //www. surrey. ac. uk/Arts/CRONEM/ Funding from the ESRC is gratefully acknowledged
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