Racialisation of Polish migrants in the UK and in Spain (Catalonia)

The European Union expansion in 2004 resulted in a large-scale migration from less ethnically diverse Poland to multicultural societies. Many Polish migrants have become conscious of being white due to contact with people of colour, and at times, not-quite-white through encounters with the local white population. The presumed whiteness has not protected them from racialisation in the UK, especially in the context of Brexit. In contrast, in the Spanish context they have often been privileged by whiteness and Europeanness, although they have also been categorised as Eastern European Others. This paper illustrates how Polish migrants are racialised in relation to their ambiguous position linked to the construction of 'Eastern Europeans'. It does so by drawing on narrative interviews with Polish women in Manchester and Barcelona based on the fieldwork conducted in 2012-2013 and interviews in Manchester in 2017-2018. The central argument is that racialisation of Polish migrants is influenced by the history and present of East-West relations. The peripheral condition shared by Spain and Poland helps to explain the differences in racialisation of Polish migrants in Britain and Spain.