Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Should I stay or should I go now? Exploring Polish women's returns “home”

Document Cited in Related
AuthorEva A. Duda‐Mikulin
Date01 August 2018
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12420
Published date01 August 2018
Should I stay or should I go now? Exploring
Polish women’s returns “home”
Eva A. Duda-Mikulin*
ABSTRACT
At a time when there are more people on the move than ever before, it is pivotal to explore
people’s motivations and experiences of return migration. Whilst motivations for migration are
comparatively well explored, return migrants’experiences are less well-known and migrants’
gender is rarely considered. This article addresses these gaps. It is based on qualitative
research and in-depth interviews with 32 Polish women: 16 migrants and 16 return migrants.
Considered through the lens of agency and structure, this research uncovers how f‌luid the pro-
cess of migration has become; migration motivations and patterns are blurred and interlinked
with one another while classic migration theories seem outdated. The study uses an “intersec-
tion of motivations”to show how inseparable migration-related motivations have become. This
article contributes to the growing literature on East–West return migration and highlights
women as migrants and the gendered nature of their mobility.
INTRODUCTION
There are more people on the move than ever before. Around 3.3 per cent of the world’s popula-
tion (approximately 244 million people) live in a country that is not their country of origin (UN,
2015). In 2013, the United Kingdom (UK) was home to approximately 7.8 million international
migrants, which made it the f‌ifth most attractive destination country in the world (OECD-
UNDESA, 2013). Following the expansion of the European Union (EU) in 2004 migration from
Accession 8 (A8/EU8)
1
to the UK was identif‌ied as one of the most signif‌icant social phenomena
(Pollard et al., 2008). Polish nationals migrating to the UK after 2004 were the largest migrant
community, from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries which joined the EU in 2004
(Trevena, 2009; Drinkwater & Garapich, 2015). Later on, Polish migrants became a vibrant and
growing community in the UK (Isa
nski & Luczys, 2011). The economic migrant argument has
been applied to Polish migrants to the UK, the majority of whom have been identif‌ied as such
(Irek, 2011). While some sources claim that large numbers of A8 workers have left the country in
the aftermath of the global economic crisis in 2008 (Pollard, 2008); others acknowledge a constant
circulation of migrants between the UK and their homeland in order to access work. Additionally,
substantial numbers appear to be long-term residents settled in the UK (White, 2014).
It has been widely accepted that migration is gendered (Pessar & Mahler, 2003; Yeoh & Ramdas
2014). Morokvasic (1983, 13) argues that although women play a crucial role in migration, they
have been “sociologically invisible, although numerically and socially present”and that the pres-
ence of women was f‌inally acknowledged when they entered the waged labour market. The
assumptions of a male breadwinner family model and traditional gender roles have dominated
* University of Bradford, UK
doi: 10.1111/imig.12420
©2017 The Author
International Migration ©2017 IOM
International Migration Vol. 56 (4) 2018
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT