‘Uni-Culti’ Myths and Liberal Dreams: Brexit and Austerity from the Perspective of Migrants

Abstract

This chapter discusses the post-Brexit condition from the perspective of the margin: of an outsider to Britain as well as of Britain’s marginal men, migrants from Poland. It considers anti-immigrant populism and austerity as transnational rather than national phenomena. Thereby, the chapter address the neoliberal reforms as well as the newest political context, including the advance of nationalist rhetoric, the ‘war on gender ideology’, as well as anti-immigrant populism in Poland. The chapter uses the case of Polish migrants in Britain to critically discuss how the interest in the return of migrants is interwoven with neoliberal as well as culturalist logics. These two logics represent migrants either as rational economic agents or passive victims of anti-immigrant populism. Both perspectives underestimate the dynamics of migrants’ aspirations as well as the complexity of their embeddedness in multiple locations. The lesson learnt from studying Polish migrants’ aspirations is a new perspective on the nexus of anti-immigration populism and austerity in Europe.