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60 Years On: Polish Migration to the UK

ConferencePolish Embassy

17th May 2006

Teresa Staniewicz, University of Warwick,The UK National Focal Point for the EUMC

Email: T.Staniewicz@warwick.ac.ukWebsite: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/raxen

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Throughout history (regional as well as national) Polish culture has been immersed in concepts of self sufficiency and social etiquette, to the point of honour. Such traits, although not exclusive to Poles, are seen to embody a sense of ‘Polishness’ (Gorka, 1942; Braito, 1988; etc.).

‘Polish’ Characteristics

Fiercely Nationalistic

Status competition: very driven

Proud: very independent

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The Past Informs the Future

History informs us about the past, which we are often seen to draw on, in order to speculate about the future.

Today, I shall draw on the development of the post-WWII Polish community (Polonia) as an appropriate springboard for a more productive analysis of the many Poles, and their respective experiences, who have arrived to the UK since May 2004, and clearly will continue to do so.

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IntroductionToday’s migrants from Europe appear to have

unprecedented access and the freedom, as never before, to forge new lives, both temporary and permanent, in those countries willing to receive them.

I will illustrate some of the varied experiences that post-Accession Polish migrants have been having, as their ethnicity intersects with the endemic nature of racism in British society. This raises the obvious question:

How successful are they in accessing ‘routes’ towards equitable integration?

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Introduction……2This presentation has two main strands. 1) It draws on the developed nature of the

established Polish community (or, Polonia) in the UK. Often forgotten as an ethnic minority, the result of the racially essentialist notion that: White migrants are assumed to have assimilated totally into a ‘British’ way of life; and one which is embraced to the exclusion of all other (previous) ways of life or, cultural identities.

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Introduction……32) It presents the underlying racisms in place in the

UK (mirrored in other EU member-states), which directly impact on the lived experiences of post-Accession Poles in the UK. Such forms of discrimination feed directly into discourses surrounding ‘freedom of movement’, new forms of social / spatial mobility, & may indeed impact on further changes in immigration policies.

There are therefore, broad comparisons to be made between the experiences had by Poles arriving 60 years ago, and those arriving here since 2004.

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Data on 2nd generation Poles. The higher educational achievement for male & female Poles, point towards the influence of the (Polish) parent’s view of education as a route to success – underpinning extant literature (both in the UK and US) on the persistence of status competition as a cultural element in the make-up of ‘being Polish’. However, for some - regardless of their successes - their ethnicity was to be seen as a ‘ barrier’ to Britishness (by non-Poles) across a range of areas in their lives.

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Figure 1: ‘O’ levels - 2nd Generation Poles Total overall proportions with ‘O’ levels were 90% for UK Poles, and 48% for comparable GHS data. [Table 10.3, p.222, General Household Survey, (GHS),1994]

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1020

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5060

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90100

'o' Level Attainment

Polish female

GHS female

Polish male

GHS male

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FIGURE 2: ‘A’ Levels – 2nd Generation PolesMy UK sample’s figure for overall ‘A’ Level attainment was 73.5%. and 16.75% for comparable GHS data.[Table 10.1, p.222, General Household Survey, (GHS) 1994]

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'A' Level Attainment

Polish femalesGHS femalesPolish malesGHS males

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FIGURE 3: Degree Levels – 2nd Generation PolesMy UK sample’s figure for overall Degree attainment was 41.3%, and 15.25% for comparable GHS data [GHS samples, 1991]

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45

Degree level Attainment

Polish females

GHS females

Polish males

GHS males

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Racial Discrimination – Ongoing1st Gen Poles: overall figure for self-reported racism was 75%,2nd Gen Poles: overall figure for self-reported racism was 43%

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Self-reported Racism

1st Gen Poles

2ND GenFemales2nd Gen Males

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Real Lived Experience of Racism – from the WME Perspective 1

(WME=White Minority Ethnic)The following quotations are from a second-generation female

respondent: "It seems, because I am white, people don't believe that I canalso be racially abused“

The respondent went on to say:“They - the English - go on about how fair they are, but it's allrubbish. They hate you for being different, they hate you for doingbetter than them at school, they hate you for working hard whilst allthey do is go to the pub every night. They have made me consciousof myself as a Pole, and they have made me as racist as they are.………... I don't let on that I'm Polish when I go out, but at home, it'sdifferent … I can be Polish without the need for public displays.”• • UK 2nd Gen No.22/BPP/F

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Real Lived Experience of Racism – the WME Perspective 2

One male classified himself as a British Pole, yet did notIdentify with the formal or public aspects of the community, just

observed the ‘dual matrix’ in terms of ethnic identity.

"I know it's because of my being Polish that I amtreated differently, you know, not like everyone else. Inever get the shift I want, unless I change withsomeone else….My supervisor hates anyone who isn'tEnglish – black or white”.

UK 2nd Gen No.27/BPP/M

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The Integration of Poles into British Society (1)It is clear from these academic results, that Polescan be seen as having integrated successfully bythe 2nd generation. After all, education is a centralplank of the Government’s attempts to create a more

cohesive society. But at whom is this aimed?What is a lesser known fact, is that because of the nature of

the construction of ‘British ‘identity, Poles (as well as all non-indigenous British, other 2nd/3rd generations), continue to be viewed as, the ‘Other’. Even though successful, far from being immune to the tentacles of racist rhetoric, Poles are found to be just as susceptible, but in contextually differing ways.

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The Integration of Poles into British Society (2)The ‘British Imperial’ legacy, has faithfully served to

perpetuate racisms in everyday discourse, where the sedimentation of (our) racialised understandings of the ‘Other’ (originally slaves form the Caribbean; then, the Windrush generation, along with DPs and exiles; post-Solidarity Poles; and, more recently Kosovans).

Lets not forget the Roma, the EU ‘whipping boy’, vilified byso many different ‘so-called enlightened’ nation-states. All have individuals within their ethnic group who will find

resonance with what is means to be discriminated against on the basis of cultural difference. Within these parameters therefore, decisions are made based on which elements of their ethnicity are to be maintained.

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The Integration of Poles into British Society (3)Well before 4th May 2004, the media started the latest campaign. Newspapers instigated moral panics with

the ferocity of their hardly impartial editorials: ‘Floods of migrants taking our jobs’.

The Sun claimed that it would be 'tens of thousands'. The Sunday Times predicted 100,000. The Express announced that 1.6 million are 'ready to flood in'. In the newspapers' numbers game, no amount of exaggeration is excessive - but any amount of immigration is too much. Before long, every story about imminent migration discussed Polish migrants.

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The Integration of Poles into British Society (4)In Poland the run-up to Accession was no better:The promise of better job and lives was projected

beyond reason, by both the media and the pro EU politicians in Poland. A misleading headline in a leading Polish national daily paper, Gazeta Wyborcza, read ‘Half a million jobs await Poles in the UK’. This was published in April 2004, and with great certainty, such articles can be seen in some ways to be culprits in sending thousands of desperate Poles to the UK, and creating a ‘brain-drain’ for Poland. News articles are already circulating about the ‘invasion’ of non A8 migrants from Romania and Bulgaria.

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Comparisons Between Past and Present MigrationsI wish now to turn to the broad comparisons to be made

between the experiences had by Poles arriving 60 years ago, and those arriving here since 2004.

Today’s migrants under discussion are generally not, to use Adrian Favell’s term - Eurostars. These Poles are notin a position to transfer their unique set of skills acrossborders within the EU’s ever expanding transnationalspace, with a minimum of effort. The Poles being discussed here, are clearly not moving freely in the

promised / anticipated way. There is need for an overarching framework which ‘maps’ movement of migrants and their skills to better match them to the job opportunities in the UK.

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Post-war: These Polish males were in positions of disadvantage in the labour market, and were vying for jobs from a substantially weakened position. Often, the 1st generation suffered déclassment as a result of the Polish Diaspora, due to status incongruity. Culturally, it was very strongly felt to impact on how the family back home was perceived.

Post 2004: stories indicate that Poles return to Poland and mislead family / friends about their alleged success, for fear of shame on families. This has led to more Poles arriving to the UK

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Post-war: The media of the day launched frequent xenophobic attacks on Poles in the newspapers, once in the UK. Also reports of racist attacks were recorded [See Zubrzycki, 1956, Sword, 1989]

Post 2004: The Pole has become the de facto face of post-Accession migration. The ‘Polish plumber’ has now entered the daily lexicon in conveying negative notions about ‘foreigners’ = Poles (taking local jobs, at much lower rates). Other recent examples:

1) The Sunday Times, page 18, 14/05/2006

“Anthony Worrell Thompson, the celebrity chef, blamed poor restaurant service on eastern European (Poles) waiters, who struggle with the language.”

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Post 2004: racist media reporting, cont./AWT was subsequently ‘forced’ to retract his

defamatory statement re Polish workers2) On the BBC 5Live ‘phone-in’ (Sunday

14/0506), listeners complained that Poles were taking indigenous jobs, due to their willingness to take a much lower wage (such as in plumbing) even though their work was very shoddy. The British worker would lose out on payment for the whole job, but was often required to, ‘finish the job, or certify the work carried out..’

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There is a need for balance here…This notwithstanding, these experiences are

somewhat tempered by many positive & supportive stories about new Polish migrants and serve to confirm, anecdotally, the high quality of labour Polish workers are exhibiting (across the UK) in undertaking any (new) kind of work – even when over-qualified or new to the job – and, the pride taken in its completion.

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3) Poles Targeted in Racist AttacksRegardless of highly publicised reports by the IPPR, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and the TUC to

name but a few, on the overall benefits of Polish (& other) migrants to the economy generally, there continues to be a noticeable rise in attacks on Polish post-Accession migrants, both in NI as well as on mainland UK.

Media stories, and a lack of concerted effort by the Government to deal with these migratory flows, have again fed in to people’s fears about job losses, lower wages, and general xenophobia.

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  There was none of that camaraderie that we had been led to believe the British would be showing us …. Instead, we had to fight for everything, the right to be treated fairly, to live somewhere clean, the right to have work we wanted and were able to do, the right to practise our faith, every small right had to be fought for time and again….Yes, we were treated as an ‘ausländer’.” (Respondent’s own emphasis) 1st Gen

Polish man talking about 1948 treatment arriving in the UKI heard it would be different in England, everyone I

meet seems hostile to me , I just want to be treated properly, and to get the right work – clean honest work, I mean. Why should I have to justify why I am here, why I like to go to church, what my faith means to me. Everything I have tried to get is difficult. Post-Accession Polish man – summer 2005

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Concluding thoughts……1Why is revisiting ‘migratory discourse’ crucial

in studying new migrant waves?because migration is about ‘literal’ exclusion, and

the exclusion of some, impacts, on those who have already been admitted it ‘defines the nation’ (Britain), and raises questions about the legitimacy of migrants’ maintaining ‘ethnic and sub-cultural identities’ (European identity building)it is often ‘racialised’Global movements will impact on im/migration policy in the EU.

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Concluding thoughts……2

Such phenomenal movements globally are important to track, given that the impact will be felt at both ends of the migratory route. Some consideration therefore must also be given to the impact that the drain of skilled labour will have on Poland’s economy. There are anecdotal accounts of advertising campaigns which recruit en masse, and essentially strip whole workforce groups in a range of sectors (shipbuilding, dentists, doctors, etc.) Is this managed migration – but for whom – the UK

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Concluding thoughts……3As a 2nd Gen Pole, I find much resonance in Stuart

Hall's (1992) explanation of the concept of ethnic hybridity, where new generations will necessarily fashion their own ethnic identity partly from a mixture of their parent's ethnicity, and partly from their environment, dependent upon the level of tolerance towards the practice of such customs, shown by members of the ‘host’ society (Cohen,1994). These new Polish migrants may not be interested in making a home here. New migratory typologies are being formed as a result of globalisation, aided by technologies that enable them to maintain contact, and form transnational links at the same time. Research is urgently required to map these new migratory trends. Lets hope today stimulates the desire for such research.