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THE CONSTRUCTION and DEVELOPMENT of DIASPORIC NETWORKS by RECENT POLISH MIGRANTS to LONDON, UK a Dissertation Submitted to Kent

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THE CONSTRUCTION and DEVELOPMENT of DIASPORIC NETWORKS by RECENT POLISH MIGRANTS to LONDON, UK a Dissertation Submitted to Kent THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DIASPORIC NETWORKS BY RECENT POLISH MIGRANTS TO LONDON, UK A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Weronika A. Kusek August, 2014 Dissertation written by Weronika A. Kusek B.A., The University of Toledo, 2008 M.A., The University of Toledo, 2010 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2014 Approved by ___________________________________, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. David Kaplan ___________________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Sarah Smiley ___________________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Daniel Hammel ___________________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Andrew Barnes ___________________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Kim Gruenwald Accepted by ___________________________________, Chair, Department of Geography Dr. Mandy Munro-Stasiuk ___________________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Dr. James L. Blank ii TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1 - Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Justification of Research Project, Research Question ........................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology Overview ........................................................................................................ 3 1.3 Research Background ............................................................................................................ 4 1.3.1 Contribution to existing research .................................................................................... 5 1.3.2 The European Union ....................................................................................................... 7 1.3.3 Local focus of research ................................................................................................... 8 1.3.4 New face of Polish migration ......................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 – Review of pertinent research on globalization, migration, and transnationalism ..... 12 2.1 Globalization and its regional dimension in Europe ........................................................... 12 2.2 London – A Global City ...................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Migration Theories .............................................................................................................. 22 2.4 Migration in the World ........................................................................................................ 27 2.5 Human Mobility and Diaspora Population.......................................................................... 29 2.6 From Traditional to Transnational Community .................................................................. 33 2.7 Cyberspace and Technology ............................................................................................... 35 2.7.1 Categorizing communication technology ..................................................................... 37 2.8 The European Union and Intra-EU Labor Migration .......................................................... 40 Chapter 3 - Methodology .............................................................................................................. 44 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 44 3.2 Participant Identification and Selection Process ................................................................. 45 3.3 Fieldwork ............................................................................................................................ 46 3.3.1 Fieldwork: Trip 1 .......................................................................................................... 46 3.3.2 Fieldwork: Trip 2 .......................................................................................................... 47 iii 3.3.3 Fieldwork: Trip 3 .......................................................................................................... 47 3.4 Participant Observation ....................................................................................................... 48 3.5 Interview Process and Mental Maps ................................................................................... 50 3.6 Challenges associated with Positionality and Gender ......................................................... 57 Chapter 4 - The Polish Experience of Migration .......................................................................... 63 4.1 Introduction to Polish Migration ......................................................................................... 63 4.2 Polish global migration from a historical perspective ......................................................... 64 4.3 Poles in the UK: Polish Migration to the UK Before The European Union ....................... 68 4.4 Poles in the UK: Contemporary Aspects of Polish Migration ............................................ 69 4.5 Measuring the Scale of Post-2004 Polish Migration to the UK .......................................... 70 4.6 Post-2004 Polish Migration to the UK: Redefining Traditional Migrant Perceptions ........ 73 4.7 Tracing the reasons for Polish migration to the UK ............................................................ 75 4.7.1 Exploring Reasons for Migration: Service-sector labor migrants ................................ 78 4.7.2 Exploring Reasons for Migration: Eurostars ................................................................ 93 4.8 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 105 Chapter 5 – Migrants’ Experience in London............................................................................. 107 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 107 5.2 Settling in London ............................................................................................................. 108 5.3 Daily Experiences of Polish Migrants in London ............................................................. 121 5.4 Challenging traditional class dynamics within global cities ............................................. 140 5.5 Poles in the UK: Challenges and Struggles ....................................................................... 144 Chapter 6 – Maintaining Connections with Poland .................................................................... 147 6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 147 6.2 Growing the Diaspora: Future plans of the interviewed migrants .................................... 149 6.2.1 Future plans of labor migrants .................................................................................... 149 6.2.2 Future Plans of the Eurostars ...................................................................................... 154 6.3 Maintaining connections with Poland via leveraging the Polish diaspora in London ...... 155 6.4 Maintaining connections with Poland via modern communication technology ............... 158 6.4.1 Usage of smartphones / cell phones ........................................................................... 162 6.4.2 Online Forums ............................................................................................................ 164 6.4.3 Facebook ..................................................................................................................... 166 iv 6.4.4 Online news portals .................................................................................................... 171 6.4.5 Online Shopping ......................................................................................................... 173 6.4.6 Budget airlines ............................................................................................................ 175 6.5 Emergence of the “Techspora” ......................................................................................... 176 Chapter 7 – Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 181 7.1 Review of Research Context ............................................................................................. 181 7.2 Contribution to existing research ...................................................................................... 183 7.3 Future Research ................................................................................................................. 189 Appendix – Original Mental Maps: ...........................................................................................
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