My long-standing collaborator – Dr Tiina Sotkasiira – and I are giving a talk as part of an online symposium Re-visiting Brexit: Conceptual, methodological & ethical implications for migration research on 21 September 2022, 4-6pm. The symposium is organised by the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre (London Metropolitan University) and the Identities, Citizenship, Equalities and Migration Research Centre (University of Nottingham) and brings together migration scholars who have developed new conceptual insights into Brexit and its impacts. Tiina and I will discuss our recent article on the experiences of belonging in Scotland among Finnish and Polish migrants in the context of Brexit.

The event is free and open to the public. Please, register via Eventbrite: HERE.

• 21 September 2022, 4-6pm, London Met/Nottingham University, UK: The politics of embedding and the right to remain in post-Brexit Britain

Hot off the press! A new edited volume and an article closely linked to the Living Together project are now out in City, a journal dedicated to exploring urban change, theory, and action! I had the pleasure and privilege of editing this volume with a brilliant urban scholar – Prof. Oren Yiftachel. It is inspired by the work of Doreen Massey, one of the key British geographers and social scientists. The volume comprises eight contributions from authors across the globe and engages with Massey’s influential concept of throwntogetherness indicating a multiplicity of interactions across difference that make urban places. It explores these interactions in the context of ‘hostile environment’, i.e. practices and policies of control, exclusion, displacement, and denial of rights aimed at migrant, indigenous, and marginalised communities. In doing so, it takes you on a journey to Bologna, Rome, Singapore, Glasgow, Budapest, Al-Quds/Jerusalem, and Dhaka. Read the introduction here. Full volume here.

One of the contributions includes my own article on inclusive food spaces created by the newly arrived Polish migrants and the long-settled residents in the East End of Glasgow. The article finds that these spaces are conducive to positive social relations against the backdrop of a hostile environment produced by Brexit. Read the article here.

Gawlewicz A & Yiftachel O (2022) ‘Throwntogetherness’ in hostile environments: Migration and the remaking of urban citizenship. City. 26(2-3): 346-358. (open access)

Gawlewicz A (2022) Throwntogetherness in the context of Brexit: Diverse community spaces in the East End of Glasgow. City. 26(2-3), pp. 385-396. (open access)

Talk alert! I am giving an online talk about the Living Together project as part of the Open Space Seminar Series at the Open University on 23 March 2021, 2:30-4pm (UK time). In my talk, I will focus on the narratives of distinctiveness in Scotland in the context of Brexit. In doing so, I will draw upon interviews and a focus group with Polish/other EU migrants and the long-settled population in the East End of Glasgow. All welcome – please, email me for access link.

• 23 March 2021, Open University, UK: “Scotland’s different”: Narratives of Scotland’s distinctiveness in the post-Brexit-vote era

A new article based on the Living Together project is now out in an excellent special issue of Scottish Affairs devoted to Brexit. The special issue is a must read for those interested in migration to/from Scotland and citizenship, identity and belonging in the context of Brexit. Massive thanks to the issue editors: Dr Emilia Pietka-Nykaza, Dr Murray Stewart Leith and Prof. Colin Clark!

The article looks at everyday narratives of Scotland’s distinctiveness in the post-Brexit-vote era among the long-settled population and Polish/other EU migrants in the East End of Glasgow. It explores discursive claims which romanticise Scotland as different and ‘welcoming’ of immigration and position it in binary opposition to England. How is Scotland produced as different in the context of Brexit? How are these stories used to re-imagine increasingly diverse Scottish society? In what ways are they being employed by migrant communities? Read final author copy HERE.

Gawlewicz A (2020)  “Scotland’s different”: Narratives of Scotland’s distinctiveness in the post-Brexit-vote era. Scottish Affairs. 29(3): 321-335.

My colleague from Finland – Dr Tiina Sotkasiira – and I have just written a guest blog! The blog is based on our recent article (see here) and the material collected as part of the Living Together project. It discusses how Brexit has politicised EU citizens’ attachments to the UK by creating a problematic hierarchy of what counts as the ‘right’ ties. You can read it HERE.

Sotkasiira T & Gawlewicz A (2020) Ties that bind, or ties that count? The pressure on EU citizens to be ‘deserving’ migrants. LSE Brexit Blog. 

Talk alert! I have been invited to give a talk about the Living Together project as part of the symposium ‘Researching migrant and ethnic minority communities in Scotland’ at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen on 18 March 2020. In my talk, I will focus on the narratives of distinctiveness in Scotland in the context of Brexit. In doing so, I will draw upon interviews and a focus group with Polish migrants and the long-settled population in the East End of Glasgow.

• 18 March 2020, Aberdeen, UK: “Scotland’s different”: Narratives of Scotland’s distinctiveness in the post-Brexit-vote era (Symposium: Researching migrant and ethnic minority communities in Scotland)
  

Added on 16 March 2020: The symposium has been cancelled because of the rapidly changing coronavirus situation. The event will be re-scheduled, so watch this space for updates.

Great news! The second article based on the Living Together project has been accepted for publication in Ethnicities – an academic journal with a strong international reputation in the field of sociology and politics. It is an outcome of my exciting collaboration with a brilliant colleague from Finland: Dr Tiina Sotkasiira. The article explores experiences of belonging in Britain among EU migrants in the context of Brexit.

Sotkasiira T & Gawlewicz A (2020) The politics of embedding and the right to remain in post-Brexit Britain. Ethnicities

The Living Together educational resources are now available for download and non-commercial use. Target audience: secondary school students, undergraduate students, voluntary and third sector organisations, community groups,  international audiences, etc.
The resources are inspired by my recent Peace Boat lectures and include 4 sets of slides:

1. Free movement in the European Union: East-West migration
2. Brexit (focus: UK society, EU citizens in the UK & British citizens in the EU)
3. Distinctiveness of Scotland in the context of Brexit
4. ‘Migrants matter to cities’: Polish migrants in the East End of Glasgow

Please, get in touch if you wish to get a PowerPoint version of the slides with a suggested narrative (30-40 mins speaking time). Enjoy and share!

The Living Together project is getting more coverage! I am absolutely delighted to make an appearance in the Evening Times, a local newspaper published in Glasgow. The article – by the brilliant Carla Jenkins – focuses on my Peace Boat adventure 17-29 October. I am joining the 102nd global voyage between Canada and Scotland as a guest educator, and will deliver a series of lectures and a workshop drawing upon the Living Together findings. Very much looking forward to this! Read the article HERE.

Jenkins C (2019) Glasgow University academic to set sail on Peace Boat tour. Evening Times.

The Living Together project has caught the attention of Peace Boat: a Nobel Peace Prize nominated organisation committed to raising awareness of human rights, peace and sustainable development! I am thrilled to say that Peace Boat has invited me to deliver a series of lectures on topics closely related to the project as part of their 102nd global voyage. I will be joining a segment of the voyage between Montreal, Canada and Greenock, Scotland 17-29 October to discuss Brexit and migration to the UK/Scotland with over 1,000 international passengers on the ship. I am honoured, very excited and cannot wait to board the ship!

List of lectures:

1. Free movement in the European Union: East-West migration
2. Brexit (focus: UK society, EU citizens in the UK & British citizens in the EU)
3. Distinctiveness of Scotland in the context of Brexit
4. ‘Migrants matter to cities’: Polish migrants in the East End of Glasgow

I will also deliver a small workshop How EU migrants in the UK feel about Brexit?  to explore stories of EU citizens in the UK/Scotland and the impacts of Brexit on their lives and futures.