Phd Thesis Pustulkapaulina 2014.Pdf
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Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Polish Mothers on the Move: Gendering Migratory Experiences of Polish Women Parenting in Germany and the United Kingdom Pustulka, Paulina Award date: 2014 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 08. Oct. 2021 Polish Mothers on the Move Gendering Migratory Experiences of Polish Women Parenting in Germany and the United Kingdom Thesis submitted for examination for: PhD in Sociology and Social Policy Paulina Pustułka School of Social Sciences Bangor University September 2014 I hereby declare that (i) the thesis is not one for which a degree has been or will be conferred by any other university or institution; (ii) the thesis is not one for which a degree has already been conferred by this University; (iii) the work for the thesis is my own work and that, where material submitted by me for another degree or work undertaken by me as part of a research group has been incorporated into the thesis, the extent of the work thus incorporated has been clearly indicated. (iv) the composition of the thesis is my own work. Paulina Pustułka I agree to deposit an electronic copy of my thesis (the Work) in the Bangor University (BU) Institutional Digital Repository, the British Library ETHOS system, and/or in any other repository authorized for use by Bangor University and where necessary have gained the required permissions for the use of third party material. Paulina Pustułka i ii Abstract Situated at the crossroads of family studies and migration research, this thesis discusses the experiences of Polish migrant mothers raising their children in Germany and the United Kingdom from a gender-centred feminist perspective. The literature review chapters of this work show the scholarly works relevant to a discussion on the migrant lives of the study’s respondents as migrants, being both Poles and mothers. On the one hand, it highlights scholarly research on the processes of mobility, particularly in relation to transnationalism, migration of mothers and children, as well as the specific conditions faced by contemporary migrants from Poland to Western Europe. On the other hand, it reflects on modern families and parenting, offering in particular a feminist critique of mothering. The thesis then supplies details on the data collection and includes a discussion of the researcher’s reflexivity in the field. The empirical evidence was obtained through a qualitative, small-scale field study – a feminist inquiry using an in-depth interviewing technique. By showcasing the findings, the thesis demonstrates a range of choices that Polish mothers abroad make when it comes to raising children. The study delineates the following ideal-type models: Mother-Pole connected to the Polish heritage, Intensive Motherhood adopted as a mainstream model of Western Europe, the peripheral instances of Feminist Mothering, and, finally, the New Migrant Mothering. The latter is an original, key contribution of this thesis, illustrated by women’s stories of the transnational integrative practice of mothering that aims at hybridization of Polish and Western influences. While addressing the earlier knowledge gap, namely the absence of the voices of Polish mothers as agents of mobility, the thesis ascertains a need for acknowledging diversity in parenting practices within the contemporary intra-European transnational families. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Howard Davis who supervised this work, asked insightful questions from day one until submission. Thank you for your invaluable advice and feedback during the final write-up stage. I am grateful to many colleagues who commented on conference presentations and articles originating from this work, collaborated with me on research projects and shared offices throughout the years. I am particularly indebted to Justyna Bell and Magda Ślusarczyk for their feedback and encouragements, as well as to Professor Krystyna Slany whose arguments helped to keep my work connected to the Polish context. I am very grateful to my Mother who offered to read, revise and comment on the drafts, as well as to all friends who kept me going when times were tough. Last but least, I would like to thank my partner Mario for his unconditional support throughout this process. I dedicate this work to our son Antoś – the best possible “Research Assistant” I could have hoped for. This work would not have been possible without the 125th Anniversary Research Scholarship awarded by Bangor University (2010-2013). In addition, I would like to recognize the financial support received from DAAD for my stay in Germany and the research grant awarded by PON UJ (London). iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Standpoint ........................................................................................................................... 2 Thesis Overview ................................................................................................................. 5 PART I Literature Review ............................................................................................ 8 Chapter 2: Families, Parenting and Mothering: ‘Doing Family’ and Studying Parenting Practices ............................................... 8 Motherhood in Poland: An Overview ................................................................................. 16 Mother-Pole: Maternal Entanglements with Nation, Religion and Everyday .................. 18 Neoliberalism, New and Intensive motherhood of the West .............................................. 29 New and Intensive Motherhood in Contemporary Poland ............................................... 38 Feminism, Families and the Motherhood Question ........................................................... 45 Historical Account ............................................................................................................ 45 Feminist Mothering ............................................................................................................. 50 Polish Feminists and Motherhood .................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3: Mobility, Transnationalism, Family Migration, and Migrant Motherhood ........................................................ 58 Migrating Women - a Minority that became a Majority..................................................... 59 Transnationalism ................................................................................................................. 65 Transnationalism and Families ......................................................................................... 70 Global Mothers on the Move .............................................................................................. 74 Transnational Mothers ...................................................................................................... 74 Migrant Motherhood ......................................................................................................... 77 Chapter 4: Polish Migrant Mothers and Families since the EU Accession ............................................................................................... 83 Gender and Migration Studies in the Polish Case .............................................................. 87 Polish Migration to Germany.............................................................................................. 94 Polish Migrant Families in the United Kingdom ................................................................ 99 PART II: Methodology .............................................................................................. 107 Chapter 5: Research Design ..................................................................................... 109 Feminist Inquiry – An Overview ...................................................................................... 109 Qualitative Interviewing, Narratives and Biographies ...................................................... 111 v Ethical Issues ..................................................................................................................... 116 ‘Observing the Observer’ – Positionalities in the Field .................................................... 119 Chapter 6: Research Process .................................................................................... 127 Participants Selection and Fieldwork Schedule ............................................................... 127 Participants’ Characteristics ............................................................................................