ABSTRACT

Among the many meanings of transnationalism(s), the political significance of transnational action from the perspective of individual migrants does not always gain enough attention. It is usually framed as a way transnational migration processes affect the state, how social movements formed in the diaspora compete for a stake in the home country or, how a particular state manages its diaspora through various policy means. This chapter calls for a more actor-centred approach in which individuals’ choices and strategic decisions have an anti-state frame of reference dominating their individualised agendas and norms of behaviour. These are not overtly political, thus falling outside a typical political science lens, but follow what James Scott refers to as ‘small scale resistance’ or ‘weapons of the weak’ of structurally subordinate groups (Scott, 1990). In the case of the Polish migrants I discuss below, this follows a long tradition of contestation of the state normative and institutional structures, its surveillance, migration regimes and ways institutions aim to control human actions. With the advent of increased mobility within the European Union due to EU integration processes these patterns of behaviour and cultural attitudes gain particular prominence, offering a variety of means and opportunities to manoeuvre between structural constraints, contest and at times even change them to individual advantage. The context of that resistance is however crucial, with London’s global, neoliberal and dynamic face a perfect ground for anti-state resistance and the power of informal contestation of hegemonic national discursive frameworks.