Transnational Migration Germany - Poland

In the course of the unrestricted movement for workers, the net immigration from Poland to Germany has increased with the current maximum in 2013. This does not only go hand in hand with the creation of a European labour market, but, especially in the course of temporary labour migration, also the creation of transnational family arrangements. It is assumed that one in four young adults between 9 and 18 years of age have experienced one parent working abroad. There is a contrast between the frequency of these solutions and the strong rejection of the same solutions in public: a scandalised and dramatised discourse about violated parental duties and legitimate expectations of children. Especially with the feminisation of migration - pushed by the high demand for care workers in Germany - the transnational family is put under suspicion; children from these families are being slandered as "Euro-orphans". This suggests that the europeanisation, respectively the focus on the Euro, turns these children into "orphans".

This phenomenon is not only highly socially relevant, but also interesting for childhood theories because transnational families put the traditional views on family and the "normative patterns of a good childhood" into question via their transnational actions. The Work Group wants to investigate how socialisation takes place in transnational spaces and how the families handle the non-conformance with the normative idea of a good childhood and good motherhood.

A cooperation with Erasmus allows us to tackle this topic with students from the University of Wrocław. Students who are interested in a stay at the University of Wrocław should contact Alexandra König or Jessica Schwittek.

For more information, please visit our website.