‘Dutch don’t dance’ – leisure experiences and sense of belonging among Polish migrants in the Netherlands

Leisure and wellbeing

“…Yet, leisure practices, the spaces and places in which they take place and the complex social interactions that characterise them have significant implications for what we mean by wellbeing, how we measure or evaluate it and the implications of what we know about wellbeing for policy decisions about peoples' lives. Whilst limited in number, scope and global relevance, recent Leisure Studies articles have bought more critical theoretical perspectives to the wellbeing agenda examining, for example, happiness, freedom, ritual and play in mass bike riding (Williams, 2018), positive emotions, meaningful social relationships and quality of life in amateur choral singing (Liu & Stebbins, 2014), and wellbeing enhancement through the development of a sense of belonging in migrant groups taking part in dance (Peperkamp, 2018) and football (Stone, 2018). Despite the contemporary and worldwide policy receptiveness and emerging research on leisure and wellbeing, theoretical understanding of such potentially interconnected and complementary intellectual and applied work remains underdeveloped.…”

Formas de participação de jovens com origem migrante em associações em Portugal

“…As interações e elos sociais criados nestes contextos associativos são, aliás, fundamentais para que se desenvolva um sentimento de pertença à associação (Peperkamp, 2017). Para além disso, como a Maria refere, o desenvolvimento de interações sociais com membros da sociedade de acolhimento assume uma importância significativa porque oferece oportunidades de integração na sociedade (Vervoort, 2012).…”

Safe, accepted and charmed by the city. Why do migrants feel better in Berlin than in Amsterdam?

“…Esther Peperkamp (2018) demonstrates that belonging can also relate to practice and rituals. Studying belonging among Polish migrants in the Netherlands, she proposes a perspective of interaction rituals and leisure activities.…”

“…Public debate was heated up by the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) led by Geert Wilders, who complained that immigrants were the cause of social and economic problems. In 2015 PVV opened a hotline where people could complain about trouble caused by Polish migrants (Peperkamp 2018). Poles in Berlin, however, a group that has been embedded in various social groups of this city for generations now, no longer experience intense and public discrimination as the relatively new Polish emigrants in the Netherlands.…”