The recent significant inflow of international migrants into rural areas in Europe has raised questions about the integration of migrants into the rural host localities. Amidst the growing literature, there are, however, few comprehensive analyses of processes of migrants’ social integration. Drawing on the lived experience of Polish migrants in a rural area in Norway and applying the theoretical framework of social exposures, the article illustrates the important role of the migrants’ position on the local labour market, the socio-demographics of the receiving locality and the material and geographical properties of the area for the dynamics of their social integration. Findings show how migrants’ desires to engage in migrant/non-migrant relationships are challenged by the increasingly ethnically divided local labour market, amidst growing migration to the location and by the geographical structure of the locality. The changing and intersecting character of those domains fosters conditions that promote primarily social exposure of the migrants to their own co-ethnics, isolating them from the local community. At the same time, the study illustrates that mutual engagement of the migrants and the local inhabitants, as well as having children, play a significant role in diversifying migrants’ local social contacts.
Transnational Health Practices Among Polish Labor Migrants in NorwayThe article discusses the use of health-care services among Polish labor migrants in Norway. We apply theories of patient–physician relationship, trust, and transnationalism to analyze a material of qualitative in-depth interviews with eleven Polish labor migrants about their health practices. The material demonstrates how and why many Polish labor migrants evaluate Norwegian primary health care negatively. Their main reason for doing so is the non-paternalistic doctor–patient relationship. They therefore supplement Norwegian health services with health services available in their home country. However, the labor migrants tend to evaluate the Norwegian health system more favorably as time passes. In total, the Poles establish creative, reflexive, competent, and dynamic health practices that go beyond national state borders and combine elements of two health-care systems. We argue that these practices enable migrants to enhance the total quality of their health care.
International migrant workers in European rural regions have supplied rural industries with necessary labour, stimulated the demography of host communities and raised questions about the inclusion of migrants. Using the case of Polish post-accession migrants employed in the farmed salmon industry in rural Norway, we explore the social consequences of changing employment relations in rural industries. By using a temporal perspective, we identify a transition from an inclusive employment regime experienced by the migrants who arrived in the locality within the first years after the EU enlargement in 2004, to an increasingly exploitative, insecure and competitive work environment for recently arrived migrants. We emphasise how employment conditions offered to different ‘waves’ of migrants affect the ways they perceive their status and value in rural hosting communities. Ultimately, we reflect on the potential long-term consequences of international migration to rural areas.
This article analyses the perceived impact of international migration on host rural communities from the perspectives of local stakeholders. Based on in‐depth interviews conducted in two rural locales in Norway, we identify a consensus about the indispensability of international labour migrants for the demographic and economic sustenance of the host rural communities. At the same time, the perspectives of stakeholders convey a complex picture of labour migration. The perceived impact of international migration is related to the tempo of migration and to the prior local history of migration that affects how it is represented and handled locally. Depending on the context, international migration may be treated as a common‐place phenomenon or as a force that profoundly affects the conception of the local community. Our findings illustrate a socio‐spatial variation of responses to international migration locally and suggest the emergence of new local social divisions along the growing superdiversity of rural communities.
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