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Abstract
Focusing on Polish migrants in the UK, this article seeks to emphasise the role of market forces in immigrants’ pathways to inclusion in the social and economic system of the host society. The traditional agents of civil society—voluntary organisations, state policies, the Polish Church or advocacy networks—have, before and after EU enlargement, been less prominent in responding to the immediate needs of recent migrants for information, networks and access to host-society institutions, than the migration industry as such—here understood as a particular sector of the service economy that stimulates mobility and eases adaptation. These profit-driven institutions are also in a position of power over information that is being distributed to migrants, although their sheer outreach has a positive impact on processes of integration overall. The argument in this article seeks to inform debates in political theory that see political and market forces as locked in contradiction over the reception of migrants. In fact, the lesson learned from the story of recent Polish migrants in the UK is that free access to the labour market is the crucial step towards overcoming the so-called ‘liberal paradox’ of migration politics, and to the successful integration of migrants into their host society.
Acknowledgements
I wish to express deep gratitude to people who shared valuable comments on earlier versions of this article and helped it achieve its current form, particularly Adrian Favell, Tim Elrick, Norbert Cyrus and Vron Ware.
Notes
1. For instance 30 per cent of migrants registered in the Workers Registration Scheme in the UK were in the country before that date. According to Home Office statistics, in 2003, the year before the enlargement, when migrants’ information networks were already busy in preparation for the final lifting of restrictions, 360,000 Poles crossed into the UK (in 2002 that figure stood at 298,000).
2. For example, one of the magazines is organising a literature and poetry competition on narratives about migration experience.
3. The emergence of a vibrant Polish hip hop transnational culture in the UK or a politically active Polish gay community are two examples here.
4. This yearly event is a mixture of religious, sport and youth activities. Laxton Hall is a retirement home owned by the Polish Catholic Mission in England and Wales. With the influx of newcomers, the yearly pilgrimage has become an established and renowned event.