Rethinking settlement and integration: Migrants' anchoring in an age of insecurity (Manchester University Press)

"Rethinking settlement and integration argues that concepts well-established in migration studies such as 'settlement' and 'integration' do not sufficiently capture the features of adaptation and settling of contemporary migrants. Instead, Grzymala-Kazlowska proposes the integrative and transdisciplinary concept of 'anchoring', linking the notions of identity, adaptation and settling while underlining migrants' efforts at recovering their feeling of security and stability. Drawing on in-depth interviews and questionnaires with Polish migrants in the United Kingdom and Ukrainian migrants in Poland, ethnographic and autobiographical research as well as the analysis of texts from Internet forums and blogs, this monograph demonstrates the applications of the author's original concept of 'anchoring', and its foregrounding of the combination of sociological and psychological perspectives. Rethinking settlement and integration aims not only to examine the processes of adaptation and settling among today's migrants, but highlights practical implications to better support individuals facing changes and challenges in new, complex and fluid societies." -- Back cover Rethinking settlement and integration' argues that concepts well-established in migration studies such as 'settlement' and 'integration' do not sufficiently capture the features of adaptation and settling of contemporary migrants. Instead, Grzymala-Kazlowska proposes the integrative and transdisciplinary concept of 'anchoring', linking the notions of identity, adaptation and settling while underlining migrants' efforts at recovering their feeling of security and stability. 0Drawing on in-depth interviews and questionnaires with Polish migrants in the United Kingdom and Ukrainian migrants in Poland, ethnographic and autobiographical research as well as the analysis of texts from internet forums and blogs, this monograph demonstrates the applications of the author's original concept of 'anchoring', and its foregrounding of the combination of sociological and psychological perspectives. Rethinking settlement and integration aims not only to examine the processes of adaptation and settling among today's migrants, but highlights practical implications to better support individuals facing changes and challenges in new, complex and fluid societies Front matter 1 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of figures 9 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 Rethinking settlement and integration: a critical and integrative literature review 21 Developing the concept of anchoring: from a metaphor through a sensitising concept to an empirically grounded concept 35 Researching migrants’ anchoring 45 From mobility to anchoring: Ukrainian migrants in Poland 55 Anchored not rooted: Polish migrants in the UK 84 Towards a general model of migrants’ anchoring 112 Insecurities, constraints and inequalities in anchoring 145 Conclusions: from theory to practical applications? 160 Appendix: characteristics of interviewees 164 References 174 Index 196 This monograph argues that concepts well-established in migration studies such as 'settlement' and 'integration' do not sufficiently capture the features of adaptation and settling of contemporary migrants. The author highlights practical implications to better support individuals facing changes and challenges in new, complex, and fluid societies