Agency and emotion in transnational migration stories : life-changing experiences of Polish women in south west England.

This study is about issues of agency and emotion in transnational migration, specifically between Poland and the UK, from the perspective of nine Polish women living in south-west England. By appreciating the emotional dynamics of transnational migration, and the agency enacted by individuals in wider contexts, the study illustrates how multiple and varied stories are lived behind the widely reported statistics. By focusing on the experiences of women, and analyzing the different contexts of their sending and receiving environments, this study takes a gendered approach to understanding transnational migration and its opportunities and challenges. Listening to the life histories of individuals reveals transnational migration as a life-changing experience. Mahler and Pessar’s model of “gendered geographies of power” has been employed to frame the findings of the research and assist in understanding the different levels of analysis on which power and context are ‘played out’, and the processes by which individuals negotiate them in different ways. The scope of the study is suggested in terms of understanding the dynamics and social-political relationships which lead to individual and wider change. Anthropologists have been at the forefront of understanding migration as “transnational”, and more recently as “emotional”, making up for earlier approaches which more recent anthropologists have widely criticized.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Davies, Rebecca Anne

• HM Cymdeithaseg
• HN Hanes cymdeithasol ac amodau. Problemau cymdeithasol. Diwygiad cymdeithasol
• HQ Y teulu. Priodas. Benyw.

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:333