IMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMEN

In the context of post-2004 European migration, Polish migrants encounter super- diverse population (Vertovec 2007) in terms of different ethnicities, nationalities, cultures, religions, languages and social classes. Drawing on narrative interviews and focus groups with Polish migrant women, I expl...

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Main Author: Alina Rzepnikowska-Phillips
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje 2018-10-01
Series:EtnoAntropoZum
Subjects:
Online Access:https://etno.pmf.ukim.mk/index.php/eaz/article/view/381
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author Alina Rzepnikowska-Phillips
author_facet Alina Rzepnikowska-Phillips
author_sort Alina Rzepnikowska-Phillips
collection DOAJ
description In the context of post-2004 European migration, Polish migrants encounter super- diverse population (Vertovec 2007) in terms of different ethnicities, nationalities, cultures, religions, languages and social classes. Drawing on narrative interviews and focus groups with Polish migrant women, I explore my research participants’ imaginaries about the classed, raced and gendered Other upon their arrival in Manchester and Barcelona. I explore the constructions of the classed English Other different from the imagined upper class and white British society; ‘closed’ Catalans contrasting the stereotypical perceptions of open and friendly Spaniards and foreigners; and ambivalent perceptions of black and Oriental others. I use the postcolonial critique in de-coding some of these constructions. I stress the importance of the context and space in which these perceptions may have developed and reinforced. I also explore the possibility of changing perceptions and the emergence of conviviality understood as a practical and dynamic process, which emerges from routine interaction between the recent arrivals and established individuals, not necessarily free from tensions. My work contributes to a better understanding of everyday social relations as it introduces a cross-cultural comparative and gendered approach to research on conviviality. Furthermore, instead of focusing on majority-minority relations, it explores encounters between post-2004 migrants not only with the native population but also with settled ethnic minorities and other migrants with attention to whiteness and deeply rooted classed and racialised perceptions of the Other.  
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spelling doaj.art-f5c100c2a066450a894aec5661be1b752023-12-01T09:51:07ZengSs Cyril and Methodius University in SkopjeEtnoAntropoZum1409-939X1857-968X2018-10-01151510.37620/EAZ16150055rpIMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMENAlina Rzepnikowska-Phillips0School of Social Sciences, The University of Manchester In the context of post-2004 European migration, Polish migrants encounter super- diverse population (Vertovec 2007) in terms of different ethnicities, nationalities, cultures, religions, languages and social classes. Drawing on narrative interviews and focus groups with Polish migrant women, I explore my research participants’ imaginaries about the classed, raced and gendered Other upon their arrival in Manchester and Barcelona. I explore the constructions of the classed English Other different from the imagined upper class and white British society; ‘closed’ Catalans contrasting the stereotypical perceptions of open and friendly Spaniards and foreigners; and ambivalent perceptions of black and Oriental others. I use the postcolonial critique in de-coding some of these constructions. I stress the importance of the context and space in which these perceptions may have developed and reinforced. I also explore the possibility of changing perceptions and the emergence of conviviality understood as a practical and dynamic process, which emerges from routine interaction between the recent arrivals and established individuals, not necessarily free from tensions. My work contributes to a better understanding of everyday social relations as it introduces a cross-cultural comparative and gendered approach to research on conviviality. Furthermore, instead of focusing on majority-minority relations, it explores encounters between post-2004 migrants not only with the native population but also with settled ethnic minorities and other migrants with attention to whiteness and deeply rooted classed and racialised perceptions of the Other.   https://etno.pmf.ukim.mk/index.php/eaz/article/view/381BarcelonaconvivialityencounterManchesterPolish migrant womenracialisation
spellingShingle Alina Rzepnikowska-Phillips
IMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMEN
EtnoAntropoZum
Barcelona
conviviality
encounter
Manchester
Polish migrant women
racialisation
title IMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMEN
title_full IMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMEN
title_fullStr IMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMEN
title_full_unstemmed IMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMEN
title_short IMAGINING AND ENCOUNTERING THE OTHER IN MANCHESTER AND BARCELONA: THE NARRATIVES OF POLISH MIGRANT WOMEN
title_sort imagining and encountering the other in manchester and barcelona the narratives of polish migrant women
topic Barcelona
conviviality
encounter
Manchester
Polish migrant women
racialisation
url https://etno.pmf.ukim.mk/index.php/eaz/article/view/381
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