London’s Polish Borders: Transnationalizing Class and Ethnicity Among Polish Migrants in London

345 Pages·2016·1.71 MB·English

by  Michal P. Garapich

“This is an original and profound piece of ethnography which Michał P. Garapich
explores the complex web of meanings attributed to being Polish
in London. Based on interviews and participant observation in a
multitude of locations, from a shelter for homeless people to West-
minster, the book illuminates how migrants construct ethnicity in
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terms of social class, and vice versa. Garapich argues that ‘there a
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is a clear need to place the discourse of social class at the centre of p
ethnic and nationalism studies’. His book shows brilliantly how ic
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how creating London’s Polish borders is for many migrants part of
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conceptualise Polish presence in London: First, ethnic identity,
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Professor Michał Buchowski P B
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań; European University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder oLish orders
Transnationalizing Class and Ethnicity
About the author:
Michał P. Garapich is a social anthropologist and senior lecturer at the
among Polish Migrants in London
Department of Social Sciences, University of Roehampton.
ISBN: 978-3-8382-0877-0
ibidem ibidem
Michał P. Garapich

London's
Polish Borders
Transnationalizing Class and Ethnicity
among Polish Migrants in London

Michał P. Garapich

LONDON’S
POLISH BORDERS

Transnationalizing Class and Ethnicity
among Polish Migrants
in London
ibidem- Verlag
Stuttgart
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen
Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de
abrufbar.
Cover design: Katarzyna Depta-Garapich
ISBN-1 3: 978-3-8382-6607-7
© ibidem-Verlag / ibidem Press
Stuttgart, Germany 2016
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criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
To Dorota and Marek—my parents

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................... 9
Preface ......................................................................................... 11
Chapter 1: Setting the conceptual scene: migrations, nation-
states, and anthropology of class and ethnicity ........ 17
Chapter 2: The power of leaving—nation and class in Polish
migration culture .......................................................... 47
Chapter 3: From ‘illegals’ to EU citizens. The collapse of the
communist system and rise of migration as
adaptation ...................................................................... 95
Chapter 4: Migration strategies and the making of
transnational social fields ........................................... 127
Chapter 5: Class, work, and the meaning of transnational
social mobility .............................................................. 161
Chapter 6: Class, ethnicity, and the making of white Poles ..... 215
Chapter 7: Making Polonia. Power, elites, and the
hierarchy of belonging ............................................... 269
Chapter 8: Conclusions: power of the individual ...................... 317
Literature ....................................................................................... 325

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Acknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the financial
support of various funding bodies and institutions. Specifically, I
would like to thank the Economic and Social Research Council for
funding one of the studies this book is based on (RES-000-22-
1294). I wish to thank the Grabowski Memorial Fund, Polish Aid
Foundation Trust, and Mr Erazm Pruszyński for their assistance in
completing the task of writing this book. I am also very grateful
for the support generously provided by the Southlands Method-
ists Trust at University of Roehampton. I want to thank my col-
leagues at the Department of Social Sciences at University of Roe-
hampton who supported me throughout these years, in particular
Dr Stephen Driver, Dr Michele Lamb, and Prof. Steven Groarke.
Prof. John Eade from the same department has been far more than
a colleague throughout these years, and his friendship was crucial
for my own development. Thank you, John.
The assistance, advice, and patience from the ibidem-Verlag editors,
Max Jakob Horstmann and Valerie Lange also deserve my grati-
tude.
I wish to also thank my wife, Katarzyna Depta-Garapich, who
endured with great resolve and understanding the sometimes
annoying fact of having an anthropologist as a husband.
Last but not the least, I want to thank the hundreds of migrants I
spoke to for their time and patience.
Dr Michał P. Garapich
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