Beyond openness and prejudice

The consequences of migrant encounters with difference

Bibliographic Data

ID4138801
AuthorsAnna Gawlewicz (0000-0002-0620-3226, University of Glasgow, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume48
Issue2
Pages256-272
Publication date2016-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0308518x15605836
OpenAlexW2266181679
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited51

This article investigates the consequences of migrant encounters with difference in terms of ethnicity, religion, class, social status, sexuality and gender. While the notion of encounter has attracted much academic attention, in particular with regard to multiculture, social diversity and the challenge of living with difference, many of these debates tend to, oddly enough, overlook migrant populations. Furthermore, although they acknowledge that significant numbers of migrants to diverse societies such as the UK originate from much less diverse communities, they rarely reflect on the intricacies of production of difference in these respective places. Recognising these limitations, this article outlines the consequences of encounters with difference in the context of migration from Poland (a relatively homogeneous postcommunist society) to the UK (a 'superdiverse' post-colonial society). The article draws upon extensive empirical material collected among Polish post-2004 migrants to the Northern English city of Leeds. It establishes that migrant encounters result in development, revision or change of values and attitudes towards difference. This may involve a range of personal stances including favourable and prejudiced attitudes as well as, most likely, 'complicated' and 'in-between' responses

Ethnic group · Geography · Human sexuality · Openness to experience · Sexual difference · Sociology · Anthropology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Social Psychology

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