Łukasz Krzyżowski

Transnational caregiving in turbulent times: Polish migrants in Iceland and their elderly parents in Poland

The culturally determined necessity of the personal fulfilment of children’s obligations to care for older parents, including personal care and practical household help, is a long-lasting element of the Polish normative system, strengthened by the weakness of the institutional support system. In the situation of migration the obligations (and the methods by which they can be realized) are modified but do not disappear. What become necessary are new types of social practices. The aim of this article is to analyse intergenerational caregiving and family remittance flows in transnational social space. The authors use the case study of working-class migrants in Iceland and their elderly parents in Poland to explore how remittances function in the later life stage of the transnational family. The main thesis is that in transnational social space taking care of elderly parents (mostly by women) in person in Poland is transformed into remittances (mostly sent by migrating women). The authors also discuss the impact of the economic crisis on transnational families, which in the present case had strongly hit Iceland but has (for the time being) bypassed Poland. The authors use quantitative and qualitative data collected during field research in Iceland and Poland.

The social distance of Poles to other minorities: a study of four cities in Germany and Britain

ABSTRACT This contribution investigates the social distance of immigrants from Poland in four Western European cities – London, Birmingham, Berlin and Munich – particularly Polish immigrants’ distance towards members of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities in their various social roles. Presenting unique data from the first wave of a longitudinal qualitative study, we first discuss the differential levels of social distance that Polish immigrants place between themselves and members of minority groups in each city. We find that respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics impact their social distance, but their education and occupation may have less of an effect than their place of origin in Poland or current place of residence and work. Moreover, these factors work differentially across the four cities. After analysing social distance with respect to three dimensions of difference – ethnicity, religion and sexuality – we find several different social-distancing mechanisms. Ultimately, we argue that social science needs to consider regional and local contexts in which social attitudes towards minorities are acquired and exercised. Similarly, we need to reflect on the group’s presumed homogeneity and on the unifying visions of the ‘host society’ as a site of migrants’ incorporation.

Transnational solidarity, the refugees and open societies in Europe:

The recent massive arrival of war refugees has challenged Europe’s political unity and fanned the flames of anti-Muslim populism. Both discourses have been framed in terms of ‘shifting solidarity’ between the European Union member states, their citizens and the refugees. At stake, the article argues, is the delineation of the collectivity linked by the obligation of solidarity. Drawing on insights from research conducted among Polish-born migrants in Germany about their practices and attitudes towards helping the refugees, and critically engaging with social theory, this article offers a new understanding of transnational solidarity. Transnational solidarity, it argues, needs to embrace the tension between cosmopolitan and particularistic ideas around belonging. The article suggests defining transnational solidarity as an outcome of socio-culturally and spatio-temporally specific interpretations of the norm of solidarity. As a heuristic device, transnational solidarity helps us to understand the shifting alliances for and against refugees in Europe.