Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses exclusively on the contemporary flows between Poland and the UK, considering a series of issues such as public discourses of emigration in Poland, migration strategies, gender relations, social networks and different political and commercial representations of Polish populations in the UK. Emigration from Poland has a long history, and outward migration has been a significant feature of the country's development in the modern era. In the nineteenth century especially, while the land that had formerly been Poland was partitioned under Prussian, Austrian and Russian rule, the scale and diversity of emigration was considerable. The nature of outward migration changed again with the establishment of the communist regime after the war had ended. While the immediate post-war years witnessed chaotic population movement's expulsions and resettlements' of Germans and Ukrainians.