The intelligentsia informed habitus in social distance strategies of Polish migrants in the UK

ABSTRACT

Antagonism and conflict within newly resident UK Polish migrants has been typically related to labour market competition. Without denying the relevance of this argument, we argue that explanations of antagonism within the Polish community should also take into account the role of a Polish intelligentsia habitus. This habitus provides a repertoire of available discursive strategies used for interpreting antagonistic and “risk” situations both in Poland and among Poles abroad. It is argued that not only can this intelligentsia habitus critically legitimize intergroup inequalities in status and symbolic power but also may impact on the patterns of a migrant’s integration, linkage to social networks, access to different capital resources, and interactions with the indigenous population.

KEYWORDS:

• Polish migrants
• UK
• intelligentsia
• habitus
• feudal legacy
• conflicts among migrants

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The National Science Centre (Poland) [grant number 2011/01/D/HS6/04257]. Rafal Smoczynski wishes also to acknowledge Endeavour Award Fellowship held at Monash University 2013/2014.