Construction of home by Polish and Lithuanian migrants in the UK

Researchers across the social sciences and humanities have sought to understand the nature of people's affiliation with a particular place, to understand the emotional and symbolic ties that bind people to a place and make them feel at home. The concept of home becomes especially complex when analysed in the light of migration. In this context Gilles Deleuza and Felix Guattari (1987) invent a pair of concepts: 'homing of diaspora' and 'diasporising of home'. These two phrases express the essence of diasporic existence: on one hand, 'home' and especially nostalgia for home left behind is infused into the very notion of diaspora; on the other hand, diasporas take their 'home' with them when they travel and reconstruct 'home' in the new environment. This article analyses how these processes of home creation take place among the new Polish and Lithuanian migrants in the UK, based on interviews conducted with migrant workers for the research project 'Changing Status, Changing Lives?' carried out by the University of Oxford

Migration and Sexual Resocialisation: The Case of Central and East Europeans in London

Based upon a survey of more than three thousand respondents and forty in-depth interviews, the aim of this article is to examine the impact of migration on sexual resocialisation. In particular, we show how living in London influenced the attitudes of Central and East European migrants towards pre-marital sex and homosexuality. While the general acceptability of pre-marital sex was not affected by time spent in London, differences were noted in the meaning attached to sex outside marriage in the United Kingdom compared with Central and Eastern Europe. Particularly significant changes were observed in our respondents? attitudes towards homosexuality, with a greater liberalisation the result of extrication from mechanisms of social control, re-socialisation into new social norms regarding sex and sexuality, greater visibility of sexual difference in London and, in particular, inter-personal contacts with gays and lesbians. Limitations to the general liberalisation of attitudes were also noted

Central and East European migrant men who have sex with men in London: a comparison of recruitment methods

Background: Following the expansion of the European Union, there has been a large influx of Central and East European (CEE) migrants to the UK. CEE men who have sex with men (MSM) represent a small minority within this population that are none-the-less important to capture in sexual health research among the CEE migrant community. This paper examines the feasibility of recruiting CEE MSM for a survey of sexual behaviour in London using respondent driven sampling (RDS), via gay websites and in GUM clinics.Methods: We sought CEE MSM to start RDS chain referral among GUM clinic attendees, our personal contacts and at gay events and venues in central London. We recruited CEE MSM (n = 485) via two popular websites for gay men in Britain (March-May 2009) and at two central London GUM clinics (n = 51) (July 2008-March 2009).Results: We found seventeen men who knew other CEE MSM in London and agreed to recruit contacts into the study. These men recruited only three men into the study, none of whom recruited any further respondents, and RDS was abandoned after 7 months (July 2008-January 2009). Half of the men that we approached to participate in RDS did not know any other CEE MSM in London. Men who agreed to recruit contacts for RDS were rather more likely to have been in the UK for more than one year (94.1% vs 70.0%, p = 0.052). Men recruited through gay websites and from GUM clinics were similar.Conclusions: The Internet was the most successful method for collecting data on sexual risk behaviour among CEE MSM in London. CEE MSM in London were not well networked. RDS may also have failed because they did not fully understand the procedure and/or the financial incentive was not sufficient motivation to take part

Eurocity London: a qualitative comparison of graduate migration from Germany, Italy and Latvia

This paper compares the motivations and characteristics of the recent migration to London of young-adult graduates from Germany, Italy and Latvia. Conceptually the paper links three domains: the theory of core–periphery structures within Europe; the notion of London as both a global city and a ‘Eurocity’; and the trope of ‘crisis’. The dataset analysed consists of 95 in-depth biographical interviews and the paper’s main objective is to tease out the narrative similarities and differences between the three groups interviewed. Each of the three nationalities represents a different geo-economic positioning within Europe. German graduates move from one economically prosperous country to another; they traverse shallow economic and cultural boundaries. Italian graduates migrate from a relatively peripheral Southern European country where, especially in Southern Italy, employment and career prospects have long been difficult, and have become more so in the wake of the financial crisis. They find employment opportunities in London which are unavailable to them in Italy. Latvian graduates are from a different European periphery, the Eastern one, post-socialist and post-Soviet. Like the Italians, their moves are economically driven whereas, for the Germans, migration is more related to lifestyle and life-stage. For all three groups, the chance to live in a large, multicultural, cosmopolitan city is a great attraction. And for all groups, thoughts about the future are marked by uncertainty and ambiguity

The fourth wave of Portuguese emigration: Austerity policies, European peripheries and postcolonial continuities

Little is known about emigration in European countries. Migratory pressure and the recent refugee crisis have helped keep academic attention over the last few decades focused on immigration, asylum and integration in Europe. However, these dynamics promoting entries into European countries coexist with other fair-ly significant dynamics promoting departures from these countries. The sovereign debt crisis coupled with austerity policies that asymmetrically affected Europe’s peripheral countries have increased emigration in various European countries. Our book aims to counter the invisibility of emigration from European countries in the literature by examining the particularities of the Portuguese case. In methodological terms, the book compiles the work of authors from different academic backgrounds who have conducted empirical research using a wide vari-ety of extensive and intensive methods. It is argued that when analysing recent Portuguese emigration it is important to examine in further detail: i) the impact of the 2008 economic and financial crisis and the austerity policies that followed in its wake; ii) south-north emigration in Europe; iii) north-south emigration outside Europe and post-colonial continuities; iv) the importance of reassessing the exist-ing model of Southern European migration; v) highly skilled and less skilled mi-gration; and finally, vi) emigrants’ and their descendants’ identities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New Middle-Class Labor Migrants

Migration researchers have tended to focus on social extremes: either highly skilled elites, on the one hand, or low-wage workers on the other. Less attention has been directed toward “ordinary” middle-class professional movers, and there have been no reviews of this literature to date. The chapter addresses this gap and identifies five important themes to guide future class-orientated migration research. First, the complex relationship between migration, social mobility, place, and middle-class membership is examined. Second, age is shown to be an important consideration in middle-class migration decision-making. Third, the cultural versus economic basis of the mobile middle-class is explored, and the role of lifestyle factors in shaping migration is critically examined. Fourth, middle-class migration decisions are connected to gendered household strategies, with the preponderance of dual-career couples now taking migration decision-making well beyond the individual career path. Finally, the social and communal emplacement of middle-class migrants is considered as an important but neglected dimension of research. Overall, it is clear that the class-based analysis of migration is an important yet neglected field of study, and this is especially true for middle-class movers

?Economic Migrants? or ?Middling Transnationals?? East European Migrants? Experiences of Work in the UK

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? (Conradson and Latham, 2005a http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183042000339891). 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