Polish Children in Norway: Between National Discourses of Belonging and Everyday Experiences of Life Abroad

Post-accession Female Mobility between Poland and Norway. New Trends and New Ways of Thinking about Migration

“…Since 2013, several sociological and psychological studies of Poles in Norway have been undertaken. These research projects concern demographics of Polish migrants in Norway, access to welfare benefits, integration in schools, every-day life of Polish families, care deficit, work-life balance, and the use of social networks (Gmaj, Iglicka, & Wierzejski, 2015;Pustułka, Ślusarczyk, & Strzemecka, 2015).…”

“…This means that families are constantly being reconstituted and renegotiated, adapting across spaces and through time (Moskal, 2010;Pustułka, 2012Pustułka, , 2014Pustułka et al, 2015;Urbańska, 2009Urbańska, , 2015. The media see this situation of "family in migration" as a threat to the Polish concept of family, the Polish nation, and the state.…”

“…It has been shown in recent research that parenthood is reconstructed in migrating families (Pustułka, 2012(Pustułka, , 2014Pustułka et al, 2015;Urbańska, 2009Urbańska, , 2015. A study of parental practices and representations of fatherhood among Polish migrant fathers in Norway placed them on a continuum of various family arrangements: between the traditional fatherhood limited primarily to being a breadwinner and the "new" engaged fatherhood (Pustułka et al, 2015). Slany and Strzemecka (2015b) studied the impact of parental employment on children both in Poland and Norway.…”

“…Recent studies of Polish children living in Norway focus on their sense of belonging and everyday experiences (Pustułka et al, 2015). One study showed that children's sense of attachment to Poland is formed by contacts with the family who remain behind, as well as with Polish peer groups in Poland and Norway (or lack of such contacts).…”

On the Abolition of Belonging as Property: Toward Justice for Immigrant Children of Color

“…That is, belonging is deeply political and racialized (Yuval- Davis, 2004Davis, , 2006. Recognizing that majoritarian definitions of belonging in the field of early childhood education tend to be naturalized and are seldom problematized in ways that align with equity and the pursuit of justice for young children of Color who are members of marginalized communities (Pustulka et al, 2016;Souto-Manning et al, 2021), I seek to understand the relationship between belonging and young children who are first-and second-generation immigrants of Color (henceforth referenced as immigrant children of Color to convey their positioning in society).…”