Rafal Smoczynski

Central and Eastern European Accession: Changing Perspectives on Migrant Workers

This article provides a reflection on the period since the May 2004 Central and Eastern European (CEE) accession and subsequent migration to the UK, and on shifting perspectives of and towards CEE migrants in this period. The authors have been researching this phenomenon in the North of England since 2005 through a series of studies as well as ongoing engagement with regional respondents. CEE migration is analysed through the perspectives of government, employers and trade union interests. A central argument is that attitudes to CEE migrants changed following the 2008 financial crisis as funding for local authorities was reduced, obscuring evidence-based arguments for their value to the UK labour market.

Practising Religion across National Borders: A Study of Ghanaian Christian Churches in Amsterdam

The paper investigates the rationale behind the multiplicity of cross-border relations of Ghanaian Christian churches in Amsterdam and the involvement of Ghanaian second generations in transnational religious discourse. It contributes to filling the empirical research gap in the transnational religious practices of Sub-Saharan African Christian churches in the diaspora. This study also contributes to the empirical literature on the intergenerational transnational religious activities of Sub-Saharan Africans in Europe. The study raises three main research questions: to what extent do Ghanaian churches in Amsterdam engage in transnational religious practices? In what ways do second generation Ghanaians engage in the transnational religious field? Is mission reverse or internal among Ghanaian Christian churches in Amsterdam? The paper adopts ethnographic research methodology of in-depth interviews with fifty second generation Ghanaians and nine Ghanaian Christian churches in Amsterdam, participant observation and informal interviews which occurred inAmsterdam from January 2014 until January 2015. The research concludes that inasmuch as some Ghanaian churches in Amsterdam and some second generation Ghanaians engage in activities that strengthen their integration into mainstream Dutch society, they are also involved in transnational religious activities. The nation state poses structural constraints in the transnational religious field but some Ghanaian churches exercise agency to contest or re-define some of the restrictions. The study recommends that further research investigates gender relations in the transnational religious social field of the studied Ghanaian Christian churches in Amsterdam.

The Roots of Polish Culture-Centered Politics: Toward a Non–Purely Cultural Model of Cultural Domination in Central and Eastern Europe:

This article’s main aim is to propose a novel model explaining the continuous domination of identity issues in modern Polish political discourse. The model proposed here may also appear useful as an explanation of similar tendencies in some other Central European countries. It is based on a specific reading of the modern history of the region—one relying on a structural perspective and specifically using Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of a “field of power.” In conclusion, the article suggests that the perspective it proposes may challenge what it calls simplistic accounts of processes of long duration.

The intelligentsia informed habitus in social distance strategies of Polish migrants in the UK

ABSTRACT Antagonism and conflict within newly resident UK Polish migrants has been typically related to labour market competition. Without denying the relevance of this argument, we argue that explanations of antagonism within the Polish community should also take into account the role of a Polish intelligentsia habitus. This habitus provides a repertoire of available discursive strategies used for interpreting antagonistic and “risk” situations both in Poland and among Poles abroad. It is argued that not only can this intelligentsia habitus critically legitimize intergroup inequalities in status and symbolic power but also may impact on the patterns of a migrant’s integration, linkage to social networks, access to different capital resources, and interactions with the indigenous population.