Suchergebnisse

This book makes an essential contribution to understanding the dynamics of contemporary immigrant inflows and integration in Europe. Though embracing a Continent-wide outlook on migration processes, it accounts, in particular, for Southern and Eastern European perspectives. This is accomplished by analysing the long-term transition countries undergo from net emigration to net immigration, as well as developments in their migrant inflows, integration and policy. Balance is achieved between describing the common European experience and the intra- and inter-regional differences characterising migration's underlying factors and trends. This volume is one of few attempts to conceive of the 'Old Continent' as a common economic and cultural space that fully incorporates its eastern part, while still viewing post-enlargement Europe as an area that – despite nation-specific histories – maintains a high degree of social and political coherence. The book is very comprehensive, with deep insights into aspects of immigration throughout different periods and changing socio-economic environments. Contents come from new empirical evidence, specially designed and collected. A great asset is the mix of authors, representing several academic centres across Europe yet pursuing a common vision of European migration, past, present and future.

Countries in Central and Eastern Europe seem to be slower than other European countries in reversing their migration character - from net emigration to net immigration. In the past, migratory movements were governed by political events and institutional constraints that impeded free access to foreign labour markets. Yet of late, and particularly since the beginning of the process of transition and the accession to the larger European economic sphere, the migration environment underwent a change. An outflow from several Central and Eastern European countries has been gaining momentum, and at present the process is characterised by several novel features that may signal a migration 'breakthrough.' It is now quite realistic to expect that emigration will relieve manpower surpluses in these countries, and that in a dozen or so years they will become - thanks to dynamic growth and economic modernization, which, in turn, could be impacted by the repercussions of present-day emigration - steady demanders of foreign labour. This paper portrays a preliminary sketch of this evolution.

Despite the abundance of studies of Polish migration to the UK immediately before and in the aftermath of accession to the EU in 2004, one fundamental question has never been clearly answered: why did so many Poles move to the UK? We sought general explanations rather than inquiring into the range of observed diversity. We begin by putting together statistical and other data from both ends of the flow in order to assess the scale of movement to and from the UK and to help tease out the reasons for what may well have been the largest voluntary migration between two countries. We have used data from both countries and especially the recently published statistics from the 2011 UK Census to present a detailed picture of the characteristics of those involved. Polish statistics suggest a more 'elite' flow to the UK than to other countries. The UK census pictures a maturing settled population, still tending to occupy relatively lower skilled jobs but showing evidence of upward social mobility. The movements are particularly a response to demographic and economic factors in Poland and to a widespread but to some extent hidden shortage of labour in some sectors in the UK. These factors combine with a set of political circumstances in both countries to produce an explanatory framework that may be summarised as "right people, right place, right circumstances".

The present paper consists of an extensive description of recent migration in the 8 new European Union member countries which accessed the EU on May 1st, 2004. Since 1989 all of these countries experience an unique shift from socialist to market economy. The paper attempts to capture an interplay or correlation of pre- and post-enlargement developments with the phenomena of political and socio-economic transition on migration from and into this region.