Perception and negotiation of the racialised class identity in the UK among young Lithuanian and Polish migrants

Drawing from a qualitative longitudinal study with young migrants from Lithuania and Poland in the UK, this chapter explores how they understand the category of social class and position themselves in the racialised British class system. It explains how young Eastern European migrants learn cues such as strategic use of perceived whiteness to negotiate their place in the British class system and how their preconceptions of class from the postsocialist context inform their class aspirations. The chapter calls for a stronger recognition of class as dynamic, racialised and hegemonic category, impacting the potential for migrants to feel part of the host society, particularly in the aftermath of Brexit. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Kasia Narkowicz, Anna Gawlewicz and Konrad Pędziwiatr; individual chapters, the contributors.