Dual Enclavity and Nomadicity. Life Trajectories of Kyrgyz Horse Racing Riders Working in Poland

Abstract

In recent years (since 2019), a professional niche formed by Kyrgyz men has rapidly risen to dominate the horse racing ranking in Poland. This article explores their life trajectories and proposes a theoretical framework describing their mode of mobility. It is based on interviews with Kyrgyz riders, complemented by interviews with horse racing trainers. The study reveals details of their life trajectories and identifies some common features and sequences in their experiences. These are: the usage of unique cultural capital acquired in childhood and physical capital to transition from traditional horse racing to English-style racing, the gradual shift from transregional occupational networks to transnational ones in which Poland serves as a waiting zone, and unspecified (but related to the global horse racing industry) plans for the future. This case study is analysed from the perspective of translocality and transnational migration. I argue that the socio-economic circumstances in the migrants’ country of origin and the vocational pathway they undertook as teenagers within the horse racing, result in the permanent temporality of their mobility between enclaves of horse racing centres. The article proposes the concept of dual enclavity and nomadicity to capture the particular nature of this form of mobility.