ABSTRACT
Post-enlargement Europe provides an interesting site where the traditional distinction between internal and international migration is becoming less useful. The advent of flexibility of movement within the European Union creates a context in which new patterns of migration appear. It is important to understand the new forms of mobility, particularly the emergence of transnational connections and multiple identities. Exploring Bailey and Boyle’s (2004) suggestions, this chapter applies transnational theory to migration movements within the single union. Migration from Poland and the other new EU member states raises a number of issues about how we conceptualise labour migrations and transnationalism. This area has started to be addressed by scholars such as Morokvasic (2004), Ryan et al. (2008, 2009) and Baláž and Williams (2004). Studies of transnationalism have shown that immigrants maintain multi-stranded connections to their place of origin and that these continue to have significant influence on their lives. This chapter explores the ways in which different forms of migrant resources (social, cultural and economic capital) are accumulated, exchanged and transformed within a transnational setting. The research evidence was gathered as part of a study concerning the integration and transnational linkages of Polish immigrants in Scotland. The project involved the in-depth interviews as well as survey questionnaires conducted among Polish immigrants in Scotland in 2006–2007.
