‘Everything comes down to money’?: Migration and working life trajectories in a (post-)socialist context

Abstract

Using 25 life histories of Poles, this paper addresses the way in which migration has had an impact upon the trajectories of individuals’ working lives both under socialism and after 1989. In our discussion, we explore some of the connections between different waves of migration, bringing together historical and contemporary research on migration as well as engaging with current debates on post-socialism that problematize the disjuncture between socialist and post-socialist experience. Our contention here is that one way in which socialism and post-socialism might be integrated is through focusing on the experiences of individuals whose lives span these eras. We suggest that while there are continuities across the periods, there are also disjunctures created not only by the changed politico-legal context, but also through changed attitudes towards the role of migration as part of individual life trajectories.

‘It is English and there is no Alternative’: Intersectionality, Language and Social/Organizational Differentiation of Polish Migrants in the UK

“…We carried out qualitative interviews, using a life history approach (Maclean et al ., ; Śliwa and Taylor, ). Life histories are particularly suitable for intersectionality research as they allow for capturing biographical trajectories as ‘being produced by the intersection of micro dynamics’ (Murgia and Poggio, , p. 11), i.e.…”

“…Historically, Poland and the UK have been subject to incoming and outgoing migration flows, with both countries experiencing intensive waves of migration in recent years. Two dates are of particular significance in the case of Poland: the fall of the socialist regime in 1989, and EU accession in 2004, which brought about the opening of borders and created unprecedented short-and long-term travel opportunities for the population (Śliwa and Taylor, 2011). The latter date is of key importance also for the UK, as the inflow of migrants that followed the EU enlargement of 2004 has been described as 'one of the most important social and economic phenomena shaping the UK today' (Pollard et al, 2008, p. 7).…”

‘Moving to stay in the same place?’ Academics and theatrical artists as exemplars of the ‘mobile middle’

“…In the process of data collection, we conducted open qualitative interviews with a narrative focus (Czarniawska, 2004), following a professional life history approach (Maclean et al, 2012; Śliwa and Taylor, 2011). Interviews, seen as ‘narrative production sites’ (Czarniawska, 2004: 49), allowed us to explore how participants articulate, discursively perform and make sense of their work and careers, in particular in relation to mobility.…”

Is money always the most important thing? Polish construction workers in Ireland

“…For example, Koryś (2003), in her typology of Polish migrants, identified a category of young people, mainly students and young college graduates, who work abroad in the secondary sectors of the host country labour markets and who claim that their main goal is to live somewhere ‘cool’ and ‘fashionable’ regardless of having a lower skilled job in a bar or a restaurant. Furthermore, Sliwa and Taylor (2011) pointed out that some Poles coming to the UK are also influenced by a factor that she calls ‘enjoying life’. Finally, Parutis (2011) examines the labour market outcomes of Polish and Lithuanian migrants in the United Kingdom and argues that these migrants do not fit into the simple ‘low’ and ‘high’ skilled dichotomy.…”