Between Poland and Ireland. Political and public participation of migrants in a transnational social space

 

Taking into account the dynamics of contemporary migration processes all over the world, the issue of migrants’ political and public participation is not only an important problem from the academic perspective, but first and foremost, it is a vital socio-political phenomenon. In particular, the European Union, where the citizens of member states and foreigners with permanent resident status have broad scope of rights, including the right to vote and be elected at the local level. They can therefore be active actors in the public and political sphere at the same time in the country of residence (as residents), as well as in the country of origin (as citizens).
The main objective of the research project is to widen the knowledge on political and public participation of migrants in transnational space by analysis of different forms, patterns and determinants of migrants’ transnational practices (taking place simultaneously in country of origin and of residence). The case study are Polish migrants in Ireland.
The project allows reaching the following objectives: 1) to identify and analyze the forms of participation of migrants at different levels (local, regional and national), 2) to examine different factors (facilitators and obstacles) which determine migrants’ participation process in transnational space; 3) to investigate the impact of country of residence (via political opportunity structure and integration policy addressed to migrants residing in its territory) and of country of origin (via diaspora policy); 4) to create a typology of migrants’ transnational practices based on the research outputs. The project is of interdisciplinary character and fills the existing gap in the field of European social sciences, political science and migration studies in particular. It combines theoretical approach and empirical study. The qualitative research (in-depth interviews) is planned in three different locations at local community level in Ireland; it assures in-depth and thorough examination of the course of participation processes and the role of particular social context where it takes place. The quantitative research includes online survey on Polish migrants residing in Ireland.

 

Duration

2016 - 2021

Source of funding

National Science Centre Poland

Publications