‘Gatherers of pig‐swill’ and ‘thinkers’: Gender and community amongst British poles

Abstract

In this paper I argue that research on British Poles to date has focused on a particular and limiting set of definitions of what it means to be Polish. The notion of community has been constructed in a way that is classed and gendered whilst these characteristics are denied as irrelevant. It is assumed that the notion of ‘community’ is both objective and neutral in terms of its assumed foundation within the work of different people. However, a concept is neither neutral nor objective since it is defined from a position and as such involves a process of inclusion and exclusion. Looking at community, gender and ethnicity I argue that these are all constructs and the interconnections between them are context specific rather than predeterminable. As constructs they can be challenged and reinvented.