Steve Davis GSSR PhD candidate

May 25, 2021, 14:00, Staszic Palace, Nowy Świat 72, Warsaw, room 232

Abstract:

The life of a British citizen as a long-term resident abroad is often popularly imagined to be that of a ‘privileged migrant’ or an ‘expat’. He (usually) is believed to have a range of economic, social and cultural advantages at his disposal to ensure a life of ease and pleasure in any given location. My case study of British citizens living long-term in Poland questions the essentialized Brit-abroad image, finding the reality of British migration to be a far more heterogeneous phenomenon. At the same time, it acknowledges the existence of a multi-layered, complex and dynamic structure of potential privileges and advantages, which may be reproduced over time by migrants from Anglophone countries (specifically the UK and the USA). The section of my work to be presented introduces the concept of the Angloscape, a constellation of privilege(s) which may be (re)produced through the possession of embodied and symbolic capitals or as a conscious practice of (re)positioning by an agent in order to take on an identity that instrumentalises and benefits from such privilege. This chapter also recognises that privilege may be unevenly distributed or available through its intersection with class, race and gender. The Angloscape concept takes account of our era of global flows and accelerated change, and is therefore perceived as relatively dynamic and responsive to global and local developments across societies. During the current Covid-19 pandemic and with the change of status from EU citizen – with freedom to move, work and live in any EU country – to that of a third-country national, what impact do such events have on the agency British citizens in Poland and the shape of the Angloscape?

Event supported by NAWA Welcome to Poland.