Skip to main content
Rebordering Britain & Britons after Brexit

Going Back, Staying Put, Moving On: Brexit and the Future Imaginaries of Central and Eastern European Young People in Britain

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which young people aged 12 to 18 who were born in Central and Eastern European EU countries but now live in the United Kingdom construct their future imaginaries in the context of Brexit. It reports on findings from a large-scale survey, focus groups and family case studies to bring an original perspective on young migrants' plans for the future, including mobility and citizenship plans, and concerns over how Britain's decision to leave the European Union might impact them. While most of the young people planned to stay in Britain for the immediate future, it was clear that Brexit had triggered changes to their long-term plans. These concerns were linked to uncertainties over access to education and the labour market for EU nationals post-Brexit, the precarity of their legal status and their overall concerns over an increase in racism and xenophobia. While our young research participants expressed a strong sense of European identity, their imaginaries rarely featured `going back' to their country of birth and instead included narratives of moving on to more attractive, often unfamiliar, destinations. The reasons and dynamics behind these plans are discussed by drawing on theories of transnational belonging.

You might also be interested in :

Performing whiteness: Central and Eastern European young people's experiences of xenophobia and racialisation in the UK post-Brexit
The state-induced anti-immigration environment and the normalisation of xenophobia in political and media discourses have led to the increased othering of European migrants in the UK through new forms of social stratification, especially since the Brexit Referendum of 2016.
Marginalized (non)citizens: migrant youth political engagement, volunteering and performative citizenship in the context of Brexit
Migrants' opportunities for civic and political participation are often restricted by their legal rights. This paper reports on a study which included a survey with 1,120 young people aged 12-18 originally from Central and Eastern Europe, living in the UK…
Migrant Experiences of Conviviality in the Context of Brexit: Polish Migrant Women in Manchester
This paper explores how people live together in different places in the context of Brexit. This issue seems more relevant than ever due to the continued attention being paid to immigration…
Push, Pull and Brexit: Polish Migrants' Perceptions of Factors Discouraging them from Staying in the UK
The fate of European citizens living in the United Kingdom was a key issue linked with Britain's departure from the European Union. Official statistics show that some outflow has taken place, but it was no Brexodus. This article investigates Brexit's impact within a theoretical (push-pull)…

Journal

Central and Eastern European Migration Review

Authors

Daniela Sime (United Kingdom)
Marta Moskal (United Kingdom)
Naomi Tyrrell (United Kingdom)

Article meta

Country / region covered

Population studied

Year of Publication

Source type

Keywords