Skip to main content
Rebordering Britain & Britons after Brexit

Mapping social science research on Brexit and migration

51 articles covering the Polish population

(In)visibility, privilege and the performance of whiteness in Brexit Britain: Polish migrants in Britain's shifting migration regime
This intervention explores the experiences of Polish nationals in Britain in the context of the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership (Brexit vote) campaign and result.
'By Education I'm Catholic'. The Gender, Religion and Nationality Nexus in the Migration Experience of Polish Men to the UK
To date, the literature on gender and migration continues a longstanding bias towards female over male experiences. Similarly, research on Polish post-EU accession emigration has not sufficiently addressed the male experiences of migration. Drawing on 20 interviews with migrant men…
'High-Skilled Good, Low-Skilled Bad?' British, Polish and Romanian Attitudes Towards Low-Skilled EU Migration
A new skills-based immigration system, with a preference for the highly-skilled, is central to UK policy debates in the Brexit context, arguably responding to majority public opinion on migration. Through qualitative fieldwork with British…
‘Scotland's different’: Narratives of Scotland's distinctiveness in the post-Brexit-vote era
While Scotland has been portrayed as an outlier in the context of Brexit, we know relatively little about how ordinary people in Scotland, including a growing migrant population, make sense of this (political and media) narrative. In order to address this gap…
Abuse or Underuse? Polish Migrants' Narratives of (Not) Claiming Social Benefits in the UK in Times of Brexit
The use of welfare support by EU migrants has dominated media coverage and political debates about EU migration in the UK for several years, regularly featuring claims about the negative effects of the presence of EU migrants on the UK social security system.
An `undeliberate determinacy'? The changing migration strategies of Polish migrants in the UK in times of Brexit
This paper reformulates classical questions regarding the plans and strategies of Polish migrants in the UK-such as decisions to leave or remain in the host country, or be `deliberately indeterminate' about future plans-from a sociologically situated `rights-based' perspective.
Analysing migrants' ageing in place as embodied practices of embedding through time: 'Kilburn is not Kilburn any more'
There is growing attention to how people navigate and make sense of particular places through the ageing process. Against this backdrop, there is increasing research on ageing in contexts of migration. Although much of this research focuses on retirement and return migration…
Applying for Settled Status: Ambivalent and reluctant compliance of EU citizens in post-Brexit Scotland
This article contributes to scholarship concerning the effects of the UK Referendum on EU membership and Brexit on EU citizen rights in the UK (Botterill, McCollum and Tyrrell, 2018; Burrell and Schweyher, 2019; Gawlewicz and Sotkasiira, 2019; Huber, 2019). The paper focuses on applications for…
Bees & butterflies: Polish migrants' social anchoring, mobility and risks post-Brexit
The result of the Brexit referendum and subsequent uncertainty regarding its actual consequences, particularly for the EU citizens living in the UK, constitutes a major point of reference and a social risk for many Polish migrants.
Complexities of Polish migrant's citizenship attributions in the context of Brexit and the Scottish Independence
This article focuses on the experiences of Scotland's largest foreign-born minority group, namely Poles, in the run-up to the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014 and subsequently the UK's EU Referendum.
Conditional citizens and hostile environments: Polish migrants in pre-Brexit Britain
This article explores recent shifts in the governance of British migration and welfare regimes, considering how far a so called `authoritarian turn' (Tyler, 2018)…
Cultural Precarity: Migrants' Positionalities in the Light of Current Anti-immigrant Populism in Europe
The Brexit referendum was an earthquake to those in otherwise privileged positions: white intra-European migrants. Poles form the largest among these groups in the UK. As much as they are vulnerable to discrimination as non-British citizens…
Do I deserve to belong? Migrants' perspectives on the debate of deservingness and belonging
The notion of belonging, prominent in social sciences, has been recently used extensively in relation to Central Eastern European migrants in the UK.
Economic turbulence and labour migrants' mobility intentions: Polish migrants in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany 2009-2016
Economists view earnings as a primary driver of migration, both actual and intended. However, studies on the relationship between migration intentions and earnings yield mixed results. We argue that earnings are an important factor…
Envisaging post-Brexit immobility: Polish migrants' care intentions concerning their elderly parents
The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union will end the European Freedom of Movement and the privileged migration status of EU Citizens in the UK, which will likely affect `Brexit families' and their transnational care arrangements.
EU Migrant Workers, Brexit and Precarity: Polish Women's Perspectives from Inside the UK
This book presents a female Polish perspective, using findings from research carried out with migrants interviewed before and after the Brexit vote – voices of real people who made their home in the UK. It looks at how migrants view Brexit and what it means for them…
EU migrant workers, Brexit and precarity: Polish women's perspectives from inside the UK
How has the Brexit vote affected EU migrants to the UK? This book presents a female Polish perspective, using findings from research carried out with migrants interviewed before and after the Brexit vote - voices of real people who made their home in the UK.
EU migrant workers, Brexit and precarity: Polish women's perspectives from inside the UK. Conclusion and policy implications
In June 2016, after 43 years as part of the European community, the UK people decided to leave. In March 2017, the UK Prime Minister officially started the process of Brexit – the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. While Brexit was decided by a relatively small margin of people…
EU nationals' vulnerability in the context of Brexit: the case of Polish nationals
Since the late 1990s, populist discourse based on anti-immigration sentiments has been on the rise in Britain. This phenomenon reached a peak during the EU Referendum (ER) campaign and shortly thereafter.
EU post-accession Polish migrants trajectories and their settlement practices in Scotland
The presence and the apparent permanence of post-accession EU migrants in the UK is of significant interest to both academics and politicians. Studies have debated whether migration from new accession countries to the UK mark a new type of migration often described as liquid' and open ended'…
Gainful migrations of Poles in the context of brexit
The purpose of the work was to diagnose the scale of the phenomenon of labor migration of Poles to Great Britain. Data on population flows were used (emigration, immigration and migration balance) in 2004-2014. An attempt was also made to diagnose migration changes caused by the Brexit referendum.
How do Polish immigrants in London reinforce local communities and influence the local economy?
After the European Union expansion of 2004 the United Kingdom was a recipient of a significant number of Polish migrants. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the impact that Polish migrants have on the local economies in the United Kingdom.
Introduction to the special issue “Transnational care: Families confronting borders”
In this article, we introduce the key themes of our Special Issue on “Transnational care: families confronting borders”.
Migrant Experiences of Conviviality in the Context of Brexit: Polish Migrant Women in Manchester
This paper explores how people live together in different places in the context of Brexit. This issue seems more relevant than ever due to the continued attention being paid to immigration…
Moral regulation and a good moral panic: UK Polish migrant workers and the 2016 EU Referendum
The UK 2016 EU Referendum has introduced a period of uncertainty for both the indigenous population and for non-British citizens. This uncertainty is considered within a framework of the recent revisions in the sociology of moral panics through an analysis of interviews with Polish migrant workers.
Perceived stress and well-being of Polish migrants in the UK after Brexit vote
Objective This study aimed to investigate factors affecting personal well-being of Polish immigrants living in the UK in the face of a significant political change-the Brexit vote. We measured perceived changes in attitude or behaviour of supervisors and co-workers, respondents' perceived stress…
Polish migrant settlement without political integration in the United Kingdom and Ireland: a comparative analysis in the context of Brexit and thin European citizenship
Following EU enlargement in 2004, the United Kingdom and Ireland experienced large-scale migration from Poland and other new EU states.
Push, Pull and Brexit: Polish Migrants' Perceptions of Factors Discouraging them from Staying in the UK
The fate of European citizens living in the United Kingdom was a key issue linked with Britain's departure from the European Union. Official statistics show that some outflow has taken place, but it was no Brexodus. This article investigates Brexit's impact within a theoretical (push-pull)…
Racism and xenophobia experienced by Polish migrants in the UK before and after Brexit vote
In recent years the public discourses on Polish migration in the UK have rapidly turned hostile, especially in the context of economic crisis in 2008, and subsequently after the EU referendum in 2016.
Rescaling belonging in “Brexit Britain”: Spatial identities and practices of Polish nationals in Scotland after the UK Referendum on European Union membership
This paper discusses how the 2016 U.K. Referendum on European Union membership has shaped the spatial identities and practices of Polish nationals living in Scotland. On the basis of original qualitative data collected in Edinburgh after the referendum, we make two key arguments. First…
Rethinking “community” relationally: Polish communities in Scotland before and after Brexit
Community is a nebulous, contested concept in geography spanning research on social networks, encounters, mobilities, citizenship and belonging. However, its use as a discursive trope in public, policy and academic work points to continued relevance as an analytical category…
Return labour migration: an exploratory study of Polish migrant workers from the UK hospitality industry
Incoming labour migration represents an important research field, especially in the context of East-Central Europe, a key source region of labour migrants to the tourism and hospitality sectors of many Western economies, including the UK. Surprisingly…
State of normality: Transnational migrants' shifting views of state institutions and their obligations
The power of nationalism is evident in how people perceive the world around them as `normal'. A national normality is constituted through education and media but also in everyday encounters with the state or state-regulated institutions in the fields of education, welfare provisions, medical care…
The impact of Brexit on labour migration and labour markets in the United Kingdom and the EU
Nowadays, migration to the United Kingdom remains to be one of the most debatable issues as far as the Brexit is concerned. Many speculations have been made regarding the impact of Brexit and its effect on the social and economic status of the UK.
The Impact of Brexit on Young Poles and Lithuanians in the UK: Reinforced Temporariness of Migration Decisions
The main aim of this paper is to assess the extent to which the 2016 Brexit referendum impacted on the decisions of young Polish and Lithuanian migrants to stay in the UK or return to the country of origin.
The promise and resilience of multilingualism: language ideologies and practices of Polish-speaking migrants in the UK post the Brexit vote
This article aims to examine how sociopolitical changes impact language ideology and linguistic practices within transnational multilingual families with a particular focus on families with ties to Poland in post-EU-referendum Britain.