The Social Control, Deviations and Conflicts Seminar
ANTI-POLISH MIGRANT MORAL PANIC IN THE UK: RETHINKING UNEMPLOYMENT INSECURITIES
A lecture by Dr Rafal Smoczynski
APRIL 30th 2015, 14:00
SEMINAR HALL, IIOZ BAS, 4 SERDIKA STR., SOFIA
Dr Rafal Smoczynski is a sociologist, an assistant professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. He enhances his knowledge in the field during funded research projects and grants most notably at the University of Sheffield, London School of Economics, University of Portland, University of Linkoping, University of Vienna and University of Victoria. Recently he has been involved in the RVACERN project funded under the EU Framework Programme. His current interest resolves around questions of social theory and social control studies.
The lecture is seeking to broaden the understanding of the consequences of the large inflow of Central and Eastern European labour migrants to the UK following the EU enlargement. The enlargement of the Union has not only resulted in growth of an economic and geographic area known for its most extensive free movement of workers, but also renewed interests in researching the conditions and consequences of this new wave of migration. In times of economic boom, migration was essentially emphasised by politicians as a positive development, aimed at plugging skills shortages and promoting growth (Dench et al. 2006); yet in current times of austerity, anxieties surrounding migration are mounting leading to increasing precarity for migrants and the retreat of the political rhetoric of the ‘good migrant’ (see e.g. Anderson 2010). Given the heightened level of concern over new EU member countries’ migrants that has been present for instance in the British media there are few academic publications that have attempted to systematically analyse this issue.
