Migration and Recession: Polish Migrants in Post-Celtic Tiger Ireland

In this paper we explore the impact of the current economic downturn on Polish migrants in the Irish labour market. Ireland appears to be well suited to study the impact of the recession on intra-European migration. The country has not only experienced large-scale inward migration from the new EU Member states (NMS) in recent years, but has also been severely hit by a recession. At times of an economic crisis, questions have begun to be asked about the future intentions of migrants. By drawing on an ongoing Qualitative Panel Study on the experience of Polish migrants in the Irish labour market, we argue that simplistic assumptions about migrants leaving the country 'when times are getting tough' are misplaced. No doubt some NMS migrants will leave because of the worsening economic situation and new opportunities elsewhere. As East-West migration has adopted a more temporary and circular character facilitated by a free movement regime, NMS migrants have the opportunity to move on elsewhere at times of a downturn. At the same time, many Polish migrants are 'here to stay', for the moment at least. This is for at least three reasons. A clear majority of NMS migrants remains in employment, in spite of the downturn. Furthermore, even if migrants should lose their jobs, welfare state arrangements in the host country offer some protection against destitution. Moreover, the decision to migrate, and consequently to stay or move on, is not just reached on the basis of economic considerations alone. Particularly social networks are of importance in sustaining the migration process relatively independent from short-term economic change, including an economic downturn.Recession, East-West Migration, Free Movement, Ireland, Poland

Upper classes, wider horizons?: The social stratification of international travelling among Europeans

Social stratification research on leisure tends to focus on class differences in cultural consumption patterns.In this literature, seldom is travelling taken into account as a dependent variable, even if international journeys are exponentially rising worldwide. But how is the experience of travelling sorted across social strata? Do they increase linearly as we move up the social hierarchy, as a reflex of higher income and cultural capital? Or are they more than proportionally an elite prerogative, while the bulk of the population keeps nation-wide travel horizons? And are there societal differences in the association between social class and travelling?In addition, this paper investigates differences in meanings of travels. We thus expand the cultural-sociological debate on the social stratification of cultural tastes to mobility behaviours. Is international travelling a form of ‘omnivorous’ consumption, to use the famous concept of Peterson, for the better off and most educated? Is it meant to incorporate holidays, business and sociability experiences among the upper class, while being more focused and limited in scope among lower classes? Do these differences help characterize class-specific cultural capitals, thus fostering class reproduction?We address both sets of questions – the social stratification of the quantity and quality of mobility experiences – by analysing the distribution of national and international travels across social strata with data from the EUCROSS survey, covering six EU countries (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK.Preliminary analyses of EUCROSS data suggest that SES is an important predictor ofmobility experiences; however, there are differences in motives of travels. Higher SES is associated with more travel for both holidays and professional trips. Furthermore, travelling patterns vary significantly depending on the countries from which they originate

Keeping the European Faith : Collective Identity before and after the Euro-Crisis

Media discourses have conveyed the message that European identity has been severely undermined by the Euro-crisis. We test this contention with Eurobarometer data. Conceptually we distinguish two dimensions of collective identity: ‘image’ and ’belonging’. We surmise that economic downturns can alter the superficial layer of identity (image-like assessments), but not its underlying substance (belonging-like assessments) which depends on deeply ingrained socio-psychological mechanisms. These two dimensions are expected to be affected by the crisis in different ways: the image being a more volatile reflection of historical circumstances, and the sense of belonging being more stable over time.Keywords: Eurocrisis; EU image; European identity; European citizens; European public opinio

The (Not So) Changing Landscape of Intra-European Migration.: “Mobility in crisis”, IMISCOE-EUI, Fiesole, 29 January 2015.

More than half a century ago, a future winner of the Nobel prize in economics assessed the case for multinational monetary integration, concluding that ‘an essential ingredient of a common currency, or a single currency area, is a high degree of [production] factor mobility’ (Mundell 1961: 661). The EU free movement regime and the Eurocrisis provide the ideal conditions for a real-life test of Mundell’s theory: Have workers from the countries most affected by the Eurocrisis in the late 2000s relocated to the most thriving labour markets of the continent? Have open intra-EU borders worked as safety valves for displaced labour? This paper focuses on intra-EU movements in order to determine whether they have indeed changed in size and composition during the recent global crisis. We first draw an overall picture of migrant stocks and flows in Europe before and during the recession based on the Eurostat databases. We find that with the exception of Ireland, other Western economies hit by the crisis were not abandoned en masse as the popular press suggested. In the second step on the basis of cross-sectional Eurobarometer data we examine propensity to migrate to search for work within the EU in 2006, 2009 and 2011. We use multilevel modelling in order to examine the impact of individual resources, and also institutional and economic country effects on migration intentions. Reference Mundell, R. (1961) ‘A theory of optimum currency areas’, American Economic Review, 51, 509-17

Bad Times, Good Times to Move? The Changing Landscape of Intra-EU Migration

More than half a century ago, a future winner of the Nobel prize in economics assessed the case for multinational monetary integration, concluding that ‘an essential ingredient of a common currency, or a single currency area, is a high degree of [production] factor mobility’ (Mundell 1961: 661). The EU free movement regime and the Eurocrisis provide the ideal conditions for a real-life test of Mundell’s theory: Have workers from the countries most affected by the Eurocrisis in the late 2000s relocated to the most thriving labour markets of the continent? Have open intra-EU borders worked as safety valves for displaced labour? This paper focuses on intra-EU movements in order to determine whether they have indeed changed in size and composition during the recent global crisis. We first draw an overall picture of migrant stocks and flows in Europe before and during the recession based on the Eurostat databases. We find that with the exception of Ireland, other Western economies hit by the crisis were not abandoned en masse as the popular press suggested. In the second step on the basis of cross-sectional Eurobarometer data we examine propensity to migrate to search for work within the EU in 2006, 2009 and 2011. We use multilevel modelling in order to examine the impact of individual resources, and also institutional and economic country effects on migration intentions

Upper classes, wider horizons?:The social stratification of international travelling among Europeans

Social stratification research on leisure tends to focus on class differences in cultural consumption patterns.In this literature, seldom is travelling taken into account as a dependent variable, even if international journeys are exponentially rising worldwide. But how is the experience of travelling sorted across social strata? Do they increase linearly as we move up the social hierarchy, as a reflex of higher income and cultural capital? Or are they more than proportionally an elite prerogative, while the bulk of the population keeps nation-wide travel horizons? And are there societal differences in the association between social class and travelling? In addition, this paper investigates differences in meanings of travels. We thus expand the cultural-sociological debate on the social stratification of cultural tastes to mobility behaviours. Is international travelling a form of ‘omnivorous’ consumption, to use the famous concept of Peterson, for the better off and most educated? Is it meant to incorporate holidays, business and sociability experiences among the upper class, while being more focused and limited in scope among lower classes? Do these differences help characterize class-specific cultural capitals, thus fostering class reproduction? We address both sets of questions – the social stratification of the quantity and quality of mobility experiences – by analysing the distribution of national and international travels across social strata with data from the EUCROSS survey, covering six EU countries (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK. Preliminary analyses of EUCROSS data suggest that SES is an important predictor of mobility experiences; however, there are differences in motives of travels. Higher SES is associated with more travel for both holidays and professional trips. Furthermore, travelling patterns vary significantly depending on the countries from which they originate

Keeping the European faith : collective identity before and after the Euro-crisis

Published: 15 November 2014Media discourses have conveyed the message that European identity has been severely undermined by the Euro-crisis. We test this contention with Eurobarometer data. Conceptually we distinguish two dimensions of collective identity: 'image' and 'belonging'. We surmise that economic downturns can alter the superficial layer of identity (image-like assessments), but not its underlying substance (belonging-like assessments) which depends on deeply ingrained socio-psychological mechanisms. These two dimensions are expected to be affected by the crisis in different ways: the image being a more volatile reflection of historical circumstances, and the sense of belonging being more stable over time

Exploratory cross-national survey of origin and destination migrant organisations

INTERACT - Researching Third Country Nationals? Integration as a Three-way Process - Immigrants, Countries of Emigration and Countries of Immigration as Actors of IntegrationThe fulltext pdfs are available upon request to [email protected] during the embargo period (until 6 October 2019)Recent developments in migration studies have shown how important it is to consider multiple actors, both at origin and destination, in studying migrants’ integration processes. In light of these developments, the INTERACT survey provides a new tool to research migrant integration. Its novelty lies in offering a cross-national approach to civil society organisations at both destination and origin. These organisations are taken as actors relevant for migrant integration in EU destination countries. Upon completion the survey gathered over 900 responses from organisations working predominantly (but not only) in employment, education, language and social relations. These organisations had different levels of reach, but their voices give us a better understanding of how they support migrants in their efforts to integrate in the EU. Although the exploratory character of the survey does not allow for generalisations about all civil society organisations, it sheds light on how these actors’ activities affect migrant integration between origin and destination, and how organisations perceive states of origin and their policies in the context of the day-to-day reality of migrant incorporation in the receiving society. In this methodological paper, we will present the survey’s rationale and structure, before moving onto a description of fieldwork and the challenges faced there. This paper will thus contribute to the multisite cross-national survey literature and map out migrant civil society organisations.INTERACT is co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Unionhe MPC is co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Unio