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Continuity versus innovation: young Polish Migrants’ practices of ‘doing family’ in the context of achieving independence in the UK

Continuity versus innovation: young Polish Migrants’ practices of ‘doing family’ in the context of achieving independence in the UK
Continuity versus innovation: young Polish Migrants’ practices of ‘doing family’ in the context of achieving independence in the UK
This paper explores continuity and innovation in the everyday relational practices of a group of post-accession Polish migrants who first arrived in the UK when in their late teens and twenties. In the context of claims that migration has allowed younger migrants to pursue lives free from familial ties and responsibilities, the paper focuses on their living arrangements in the UK and the extent to which they actively eschew or embrace familial relationships, practices and commitments. Our data suggest that moving to the UK had undoubtedly facilitated new freedoms and opportunities, yet these were utilised by many to bring forward, rather than delay, a sequence of broadly conventional domestic transitions, accompanied for many by ongoing dependency and interconnectedness with networks of extended family members who had also migrated to the UK. Our paper draws on the concepts of frontiering and relativising (Bryceson and Vuorela 2002) and argues that our participants were engaged in sets of practices linked to both. Further, these practices not only entailed a continual revision of migrants’ sense of family identity, affected by life stage, but were also underpinned for many by the centrality of traditional
conceptualisations of family
a8 migrants, youth transitions, family
2081-4488
139-156
Heath, S.
ff47fea0-db25-404f-a1d4-9bc1850b6c7d
McGhee, D.
63b8ae1e-8a71-470c-b780-2f0a95631902
Trevena, P.
ea357454-39d9-4065-a4c7-8f77fed75760
Heath, S.
ff47fea0-db25-404f-a1d4-9bc1850b6c7d
McGhee, D.
63b8ae1e-8a71-470c-b780-2f0a95631902
Trevena, P.
ea357454-39d9-4065-a4c7-8f77fed75760

Heath, S., McGhee, D. and Trevena, P. (2015) Continuity versus innovation: young Polish Migrants’ practices of ‘doing family’ in the context of achieving independence in the UK. [in special issue: Polish Transnational Families in United Europe] Studia Migracyjne – Przegl?d Polonijny, 3 (157), 139-156.

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper explores continuity and innovation in the everyday relational practices of a group of post-accession Polish migrants who first arrived in the UK when in their late teens and twenties. In the context of claims that migration has allowed younger migrants to pursue lives free from familial ties and responsibilities, the paper focuses on their living arrangements in the UK and the extent to which they actively eschew or embrace familial relationships, practices and commitments. Our data suggest that moving to the UK had undoubtedly facilitated new freedoms and opportunities, yet these were utilised by many to bring forward, rather than delay, a sequence of broadly conventional domestic transitions, accompanied for many by ongoing dependency and interconnectedness with networks of extended family members who had also migrated to the UK. Our paper draws on the concepts of frontiering and relativising (Bryceson and Vuorela 2002) and argues that our participants were engaged in sets of practices linked to both. Further, these practices not only entailed a continual revision of migrants’ sense of family identity, affected by life stage, but were also underpinned for many by the centrality of traditional
conceptualisations of family

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More information

Published date: 2015
Keywords: a8 migrants, youth transitions, family
Organisations: Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 385629
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/385629
ISSN: 2081-4488
PURE UUID: c1ec7350-073d-49cf-aa9c-30a9b9ed2197
ORCID for D. McGhee: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3226-6300

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Jan 2016 16:55
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 22:20

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Contributors

Author: S. Heath
Author: D. McGhee ORCID iD
Author: P. Trevena

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