The seventieth anniversary of the Institute for Western Affairs is an incentive to reflect on the processes of change which the Institute has gone through. The following topics are discussed: the crises which influenced the functioning of the Institute; the role of outstanding personages who had an impact on the activity of the Institute; continuity and change as two inseparable tendencies that shape the Institute’s contemporary research program; multilevel connections between the scholarship developed at the Institute and politics.
The article provides an overview of the dynamics of migration from Poland to Germany and the socio-demographic characteristics of Polish community. It begins with the history of migration processes between the two countries, with special focus on the most important periods (including post-accession migration). Next, the socio-demographic characteristics of the Polish community are analyzed, including its size, distribution, education and labour market situation. A comparison between the Polish community and the entire migrant community in Germany is conducted as well.
The paper presents research results on contemporary Polish organizations in the Federal Republic of Germany. Polish associations in Germany have worked since the mid-19 the century. The Polish movement went through many changes over this time. One of changing elements was a profile of associations’ activities and functions they played for the Polish Diaspora in Germany. Data analysis shows that currently most organizations take actions on Poland’s and Polish culture promotion, Polish-German relations improvement and maintenance of Poles identity. Fewer organizations are engaged in the field of advocacy, self-help and counseling. The consequence of this situation is the lack of institutional completeness, the necessity to search for specific services off the Polish movement in Germany and limited confidence of customers in organizations.
Within a wealth of literature on the subject of the social and political participation of immigrants little has been said about the issue of the mount of immigrants’ engagement in immigrant organizations and its conditions. This paper, based on analysis of CAWI survey of 3500 Polish immigrants describes participations of Poles abroad in Polish immigrant organizations. It also defines three sets of factors determining the amount of engagement. The analysis of empirical data shows that the engagement of Poles abroad in activities of Polish immigrant organizations is limited. Hypotheses concerning factors determining participation in Polish immigrant organizations has been positively verified. Both previous experience of social participation in Poland as well as contemporary experience in country of residence positively influence engagement in Polish immigrant organizations. Also the relation between the country of residence, length of stay, as well as the year of with the level of activity in Polish immigrant organizations emigration has been observed. The participation in those organizations tends also to be influenced by such characteristics of a migrant like: age, size of the locality in which a migrant lives after migration, and type of professional activity. Only two of the assumed variables: size of the origin locality and material situation have not been related to participations of Poles abroad in Polish immigrant organizations.
Urban exclusion has become one of the most studied subjects in the areas of both urban studies and exclusion studies. The problem is interpreted as a range of serious issues affecting the very social order of contemporary cities. Urban exclusion hinders the equal and sustainable development of society, hence leading policymakers to try and employ different programmes focused on tackling urban exclusion. Although their overall aims are similar, their specific means and measures differ significantly. However, it is important to ask whether the phenomenon of urban exclusion is sufficiently specific enough to allow for the development of particular effective approaches to challenge it.
The article describes the state of research on the dynamics of Polish migration to Germany and the situation of Poles in there. The problems tackled in the text pertain to discussions on the object of research, the history and the present of Polish migration to Germany and the state of the art of studies on Polish migrations to Germany. The topics most frequently scrutinized by researchers include: integrative identity, labour and seasonal migration, Polish enterprise and Polish organizations in Germany. The article concludes with a reflection on the limitations of hitherto research on Polish migration to Germany and potential areas of analysis that call for further inquiry.
Often in themigration literature transnational relations ofmigrants and their institutions with the sending country are described as important factor strengthening or improving the situation of the migrants in the receiving country. The aim of the paper is to empirically prove that in some of the cases the set of multiple conditions affecting immigrant organizations may have the opposite effect. The example of Polish organizations in Germany shows that transnationalization may have as a consequence the limiting, and the degradation of immigrant organizations standing. The four analyzed factors determining the situation of Polish immigrant associational in Germany: the characteristics of immigrant group, the policy of the receiving country towards immigration and IOs, the diaspora policy of the sending country, as well as the bilateral relations between the sending and receiving country together constitute a combination that has a strong negative effect on the functioning of Polish organizations. This all produces an impression of falling into the “trap of transnationalism.”
This article describes and analyses Polish diaspora policy changes in the years 2011–2015. Two decades after the rebirth of the Polonia policy in 1989, it was completely rebuilt. Emphasising values and Poland’s obligations towards the diaspora was replaced by paying more attention to the interests and profitability of this policy. The authors demonstrate how New Public Management (NPM) concepts influenced this shift. Analysis of two different sources – documents programming Polish diaspora policy and interviews with experts and persons designing the Polonia policy – confirmed that NPM principles influenced Polish diaspora policy on five dimensions: organisational restructuring, management instruments, budgetary reforms, participation, marketisation/privatisation.
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