The project " TRANSFORmIG Transforming Migration: Transnational Transfer of Multicultural Habitus" is carried out on the basis of prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant awarded to Prof. Magdalena Nowicka, a sociologist from the Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University. The team consists of seven researchers.

Since May 2004, more than 2 million Poles left the country. As nationals of one of the most mobile of European nations, they constitute one of the largest immigrant groups in Europe.

Research project of the team from the Humboldt University, initiated in March 2013, covers four cities, in which currently there are large clusters of Polish migrants: Berlin, Munich, London and Birmingham. London is a place of residence of 160 thousand Poles. Berlin is home to the largest group of Polish immigrants in Germany, in 2014 it was 52 thousand people. 50 thousand more have close family of Polish origin. 9.5 thousand and 20 thousand Poles respectively live in Birmingham and Munich (another 18 thousand of Munich residents have Polish roots).

As a result of earlier studies, Prof. Nowicka decided to check what are the consequences of Poles travelling abroad, where they face, for example, different behaviour in everyday life. The researchers analyse changing attitudes of Polish migrants towards widely understood diversity, including religious, ethnic diversity, etc., which may make an impresssion on Poles who leave a homogeneous country. The subject of the study is how multiculturalism affects the migrants, and how they present the conditions of life in multicultural societies to their families, which remain in Poland, but are in intensive contact migrants - and whether it promotes greater tolerance for ethnic and cultural diversity in their homeland.

For the project combining elements of sociology, anthropology, urban studies and research on the media, researchers chose respondents who left cities with a population over 200 thousand residents and spent at least six months in a foreign country. It was assumed that after that time they would be more willing to establish contacts with people from larger, more ethnically diverse groups. "This study is planned in three stages, meaning that we conduct interviews with the same people three times. In the first stage we have interviewed 120 people in Germany and the UK (30 people in each city - ed. PAP). Some people changed their place of residence" - said Prof. Nowicka. Migrants were asked in interviews about the things that surprised them, their typical day, how they built social networks and how they transferred newly acquired knowledge to their relatives in Poland.

"We inquired, for example, how Poles functioned in a multicultural community. We did the index on the scale of social distance, we examined the social distance to persons belonging to all kinds of groups, not only ethnic, but also racial groups, also asked about gay people" - the sociologist explained. Although the research is still ongoing - second stage interviews have been completed - the researchers have already drawn the first conclusions. "Poles in the UK have a greater social distance to people from certain groups than in Germany, and Berlin is the most >>tolerant<< city and Birmingham - the least" - emphasised Prof. Nowicka.

The project TRANSFORmIG also examines the maternal practice of Polish women living in British and German cities. Responsible for this aspect of the project is Dr. Agata Lisiak. Her research is discussed at http://immigrantmothers.net

The project will end in September 2017. Its progress can be followed on the website.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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