Economic Crisis, Lived Experiences and Temporal Reasoning Among Polish Migrants in Iceland

• Published in: Journal of International Migration and Integration
• Main Author: Pawlak, Marek
• Other Authors: National Science Centre in Poland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
• Subjects: Anthropology; Cultural Studies; Demography; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12134-021-00814-4; https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12134-021-00814-4.pdf; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12134-021-00814-4/fulltext.html

Abstract The article focuses on the relationship between the lived experiences of economic crisis and its lingering effects on Polish migrants’ understandings of the current matters in Iceland. It shows that even though the economic collapse in 2008 was experienced differently, it has also induced different emotions and became a significant point of reference for Polish migrant community in Iceland. Interestingly, long after Iceland’s economic recovery, the crisis continues to inform migrants’ ways of negotiating the present and unfolds the intricate relationship between past experiences and future orientations. Thus, by drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the article introduces an affective approach to the consequences of the crisis and problematises migrants’ temporal reasoning, which leads to the emerging states of alertness and anticipation of another crisis. In doing so, it shows the ways in which the past happenings affect the present matters and impinged migrants’ understandings of the future.