A Risky Business?

This book is about migration as a form of risk-taking. Based on Ukrainian women's experiences in the Polish domestic work sector, it presents a new approach to analyse movements of female migrants responding to the demand for household labour around the world. Risks involved in migration and in migrant domestic work are accounted for in detail alongside an analysis of the migration decision-making processes. This study shows how social ties and migrant institutions effectively reduce the otherwise radical asymmetry of power between an individual migrant, the state and an employer. A Risky Business? brings to light the complex risk structures of migrants' activities and their sophisticated responses to them. With their innovative strategies, migrants challenge government-imposed constraints and thus reduce the risks of migration

The relationship to the employer in migrant’s eyes: the domestic work Ukrainian migrant women in Warsaw

This article analyses the experiences of Ukrainian migrant women in their working relationship with Polish employers. These experiences and the resulting practices are related, most notably: to the working conditions; the space in which the work is performed - a private household; and a significant power asymmetry between the Polish employer and the Ukrainian migrant. Based on 20 in-depth interviews conducted with Ukrainian women between 2005 and 2006 in Warsaw and its suburbs, this analysis attempts to reconstruct their experience as migrant domestic workers and their possibility to develop agency.Cet article analyse les expériences des femmes migrantes ukrainiennes dans leur relation de travail avec des employeurs polonais. Ces expériences et les pratiques sont liées entre autres aux conditions de travail et à l'espace dans lequel celui-ci est effectué - au domicile privé -, ainsi qu’à un déséquilibre des rapports de force entre l'employeur polonais et la travailleuse ukrainienne. Sur la base de 20 entretiens en profondeur menées avec des femmes ukrainiennes entre 2005 et 2006 à Varsovie et dans sa banlieue, l’article reconstruit leur expérience en tant que travailleuses domestiques migrantes et revient sur leur possibilité d’autonomie, notamment en ouvrant leur propre agence

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Maid-of-all-Work or Professional Nanny? The Changing Character of Domestic Work in Polish Households, Eighteenth Century to the Present

In this study of the various domestic and caregiving in Polish burgeois and noble households we distinuish general and specialized staff and briefly place Poland in comparative European perspective. Next we surbey the history of childcare and domestic work from the 18th to the 21st century and analyze the emergence of a legal framework for the sector. We discuss the changing character of the work, including its specialization, and, in the final part, turn to childcare as a particular form of internally differentiated specialization

(Missing) Bridging Ties and Social Capital? The Creation and Reproduction of Migrants’ Social Network Advantages: The Case of Ukrainian Migrants in Poland

The paper investigates the mechanisms behind the formation and maintenance of those migrants’ social ties which translate into a particular composition of the network and become a source of social capital. Based on a number of in-depth interviews with Ukrainian migrants in Warsaw, we find that Ukrainian migrants’ networks are based primarily on ties homogenous in regard to nationality, level of education and character of work. The institutional context of social interaction determines with whom migrants form relations and whether these ties become a source of social advancement. The studied migrants do form bridging ties with more experienced, as well as socially and legally embedded persons, mainly other migrants, receiving both instrumental and emotional support

Among Us? Ties and Social Contacts with Poles in Everyday Life of Persons from Ukraine Living in Warsaw and Vicinities

Artykuł podejmuje temat codziennego funkcjonowania ukraińskich migrantów i migrantek w Polsce koncentrując się na analizie ich więzi społecznych z przedstawicielami społeczeństwa przyjmującego. Omawia on charakterystyki więzi społecznych, bariery i możliwości nawiązywania relacji podczas nauki, w pracy oraz w czasie wolnym, a także to na ile posiadanie więzi z Polakami różnicuje ich doświadczenia na co dzień. Podstawę analiz stanowią wyniki sondażu i wywiadów jakościowych prowadzonych w latach 2016–2017 wśród osób z Ukrainy w Warszawie i okolicach. Według otrzymanych rezultatów, migranci i migrantki posiadający więzi z Polakami to mniejszość, chociaż znaczna część badanej grupy. Widoczne są też różnice pomiędzy kobietami i mężczyznami, jeżeli chodzi o charakter i proces nawiązywania więzi społecznych w Polsce. W przypadku kobiet posiadanie więzi z Polakami wiąże się z mniejszymi trudnościami w codziennym funkcjonowaniu w Polsce, natomiast w przypadku mężczyzn obraz ten jest mniej jednoznaczny.The article deals with the everyday functioning of Ukrainian migrants in Poland, focusing on the analysis of migrant’s social networks with representatives of the receiving society. It demonstrates the characteristics of migrants’ social ties as well as barriers and opportunities for establishing relationships while studying, at work and during free time. It explores how having ties to Poles differentiates daily experiences of migrants. The analyses are based on the results of a survey and qualitative interviews conducted in 2016-2017 among people from Ukraine residing in and around Warsaw. According to the obtained results, migrants having ties to Poles are a minority, although a significant part of the surveyed group. There are visible differences between male and female migrants in the nature and process of establishing social ties in Poland. In the case of women, having ties to Poles is associated with less difficulties in everyday functioning in Poland, while for men, this link is less clear-cut