Enacting semi-periphery: conditions of post-accession migration from Poland to the UK

Since Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004, the sizeable community of Polish migrants in one of the top destination countries – the UK – have been subject to growing discrimination and hate speech in the form of negative media coverage, as well as unequal labour practices. This article explores the impact of the 2004 enlargement of the EU on the migratory experiences of Poles by examining the way the cross-EU free-movement regime contributes to their vulnerability and exploitation. It aims to uncover the way European integration explains the unequal treatment of Polish migrants in the ‘old’ Member States. The paper addresses the following questions: what factors have driven the increased number of Polish migrants in the UK in the context of the 2004 EU enlargement? Do economic discrepancies between the EU Member States, which fuel intra-EU migration, likewise shape migrant vulnerabilities? Adopting the theoretical lens of the World-Systems Analysis and the notion of biopower, this paper argues that the peripheral position of Poles in the EU single market during the early post-enlargement period has been reinforced by the migration experiences. This is an outcome of structural pressures that make the perspective of migration appear as aspirational and promising.