Poles Living in Ireland and their Quality of Life

The economic growth of Ireland resulted in a significant number of Poles migrating to Ireland following the EU enlargement in 2004. The article explores the quality of life of Poles living in Ireland. Using data from a preliminary survey conducted in 2006, several dimensions of living conditions are analysed, including interpersonal relations, material security, health and healthcare. The study shows that evaluations of almost all aspects of quality of life improved, apart from components such as healthcare and the ability to acquire help from social organisations. Also interpersonal relations, contrary to the initial assumption, were enhanced by migration to Ireland

Inactive at Home – Inactive Abroad: Civic Participation of Polish Migrants

This paper examines the patterns of civic participation among Polish migrants in nine European countries. The study is based on an internet survey (with 5000 respondents) and qualitative research with activists and experts. The paper serves two principal research goals: (1) exploring formal civic participation in NGOs of the country of residence among the post-2004 Polish migrants, and (2) establishing the principal predictors of Polish migrants’ involvement in the host-country NGOs. Our research leads to two principal conclusions. Firstly, the level of civic activity before migration constitutes a crucial factor in predicting the propensity to engage with host-country NGOs after migration. Our results suggest a robust country-of-origin effect on the patterns of civic engagement abroad. Secondly, however, the likelihood of civic participation grows with time, i.e., the higher the length of stay, the higher the propensity to participate, suggesting the socialization process towards the host-country civic norms and away from the country-of-origin legacy

EUROPEAN SECURITY ISSUES AS SEEN BY POLISH PARLIAMENTARIANS

The article attempts to explore the views of the Polish parliamentarians on threats to the security of Europe and the EU and their implications for Poland and its relations with Germany in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, NATO transformations, divergent energy interests and the refugee crisis. We follow the hypothesis, that the opinions on the threats and conflicts in the neighborhood of Europe were consistent across party lines in Europe’s neighborhood and they suggest a strong consensus on the necessity to strengthen the cooperation in NATO. The article examines the responses of members of the Polish parliament (members of parliamentary committees on foreign and European affairs and security, members of the Polish-German parliamentary group) and all Polish members of the European Parliament to a dual survey carried out in 2015 and 2016. The questionnaire was completed by 22 respondents in the first and 21 respond ents in the second survey. The respondents represented diverse political parties (Civic Platform, Law & Justice, Democratic Left Alliance, Polish People’s Party)

Participation of Polish People Living Abroad in the Activities of Polish Minority Organisations

Within a wealth of literature on the subject of the social and political participation of immigrants little has been said about the issue of the mount of immigrants’ engagement in immigrant organizations and its conditions. This paper, based on analysis of CAWI survey of 3500 Polish immigrants describes participations of Poles abroad in Polish immigrant organizations. It also defines three sets of factors determining the amount of engagement. The analysis of empirical data shows that the engagement of Poles abroad in activities of Polish immigrant organizations is limited. Hypotheses concerning factors determining participation in Polish immigrant organizations has been positively verified. Both previous experience of social participation in Poland as well as contemporary experience in country of residence positively influence engagement in Polish immigrant organizations. Also the relation between the country of residence, length of stay, as well as the year of with the level of activity in Polish immigrant organizations emigration has been observed. The participation in those organizations tends also to be influenced by such characteristics of a migrant like: age, size of the locality in which a migrant lives after migration, and type of professional activity. Only two of the assumed variables: size of the origin locality and material situation have not been related to participations of Poles abroad in Polish immigrant organizations

Između inicijative koncentrirane na teritorij (određeno područje) i programa razvoja cjelokupne zajednice: primjer Soziale Stadt programa

Policymakers employ different programmes focused on tackling urban exclusion. Normally, such programmes can be divided into two separate groups: area-based initiatives and community-development programmes. However, there are also projects that try to combine those two modes of action. One example of such a combination is the Soziale Stadt programme, which has been carried out in German cities since the end of the 1990s. The aim of this article is to present the basic assumptions of the programme and to evaluate its outcomes - especially in the context of the joint application of the area-based and community-development approaches.Gradske vlasti provode razne programe usmjerene na borbu protiv socijalne isključenosti na području grada. Takvi se programi, obično, mogu podijeliti u dvije osnovne vrste: inicijative koncentrirane na teritorij (određeno područje) i programi razvoja zajednica. Međutim, provođeni su i projekti koji su kombinacija tih dviju vrsta djelovanja. Primjer takve kombinacije jeste program Soziale Stadt koji se provodi u njemačkim gradovima od 1990-ih godina. Ovaj članak ima za cilj predstaviti osnovne pretpostavke programa i ocjenu njegovih rezultata, a naročito u kontekstu primjene oba pristupa u borbi protiv socijalne isključenosti: inicijativa koncentriranih na teritorij (određeno područje) i programa razvoja zajednica

Dynamics of migration from Poland to Germany and characteristics of the Polish community

The article provides an overview of the dynamics of migration from Poland to Germany and the socio-demographic characteristics of Polish community. It begins with the history of migration processes between the two countries, with special focus on the most important periods (including post-accession migration). Next, the socio-demographic characteristics of the Polish community are analyzed, including its size, distribution, education and labour market situation. A comparison between the Polish community and the entire migrant community in Germany is conducted as well

A PROFILE OF POLISH ORGANIZATIONS’ ACTIVITIES IN GERMANY

The paper presents research results on contemporary Polish organizations in the Federal Republic of Germany. Polish associations in Germany have worked since the mid-19 the century. The Polish movement went through many changes over this time. One of changing elements was a profile of associations’ activities and functions they played for the Polish Diaspora in Germany. Data analysis shows that currently most organizations take actions on Poland’s and Polish culture promotion, Polish-German relations improvement and maintenance of Poles identity. Fewer organizations are engaged in the field of advocacy, self-help and counseling. The consequence of this situation is the lack of institutional completeness, the necessity to search for specific services off the Polish movement in Germany and limited confidence of customers in organizations

Ruchy społeczne w Internecie

Tyt. z nagłówka.Bibliogr

AN OUTLINE OF THE CONDITIONS OF IMMIGRANT ORGANIZATIONS’ FUNCTIONING – A PROPOSITION OF AN EXPLANATORY MODEL

Organizacje imigranckie są ważną formą zaangażowania społecznego migrantów ze względu na funkcje pełnione przez nie dla państwa przyjmującego i wysyłającego oraz samej diaspory. Pomimo wielokrotnie artykułowanej przez badaczy potrzeby podjęcia holistycznych badań nad problematyką funkcjonowania tychże organizacji (również w rodzimej literaturze przedmiotu w odniesieniu do organizacji polonijnych), wiedza w tym obszarze pozostaje raczej fragmentaryczna. Przeprowadzony przegląd literatury wskazuje bowiem na brak spójnego modelu opisującego i wyjaśniającego uwarunkowania stanu organizacji imigranckich. Artykuł ma na celu przedstawienie założeń nowego modelu eksplanacyjnego w oparciu o wyniki badań własnych i dotychczas proponowane w literaturze przedmiotu koncepcje.Immigrant organizations are one of the key forms of social involvement of migrants, due to the central role that they play with respect to immigrants, the host state, and the country of origin. However, despite numerous calls for holistic research on immigrant organizations’ functioning, knowledge in this field remains rather limited. The conducted literature review demonstrates lack of a coherent model describing and explaining factors affecting the statusof immigrant organizations. The aim of this paper is to present assumptions of a proposed explanatory model which builds on the authors’ own elaborations and various concepts already present in the source literature