The construction of gender in the migration space: Polish women in the UK

Abstract

This article focuses on the construction of gender by Polish women who migrated to the United Kingdom after the 2004 enlargement of the European Union. It draws on interviews carried out with 30 Polish women in various locations in the UK. In the article I suggest that migration may create a potential for change in gender construction and look at whether and, if so, what changes took place in Polish women’s views on gender. I also argue that constructions around gender in the migration space need to be considered in the light of wider gender structural contexts co-constructed by the state, religious institutions and women’s movements in both the country of migration and the country of origin. Moreover, I propose that gender contexts, in this case specifically in Poland, cannot be seen as static, but rather as dynamic and constantly changing.