Digital Anchors, Diasporic Spaces

A Critical Look at Berry's Acculturation Framework Through Facebook Discourse Among the Polish Migrants in Scotland

Bibliographic Data

ID9953098
AuthorsAneta Duda (0000-0003-2349-3517, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, corresponding author), Aneta Wójciszyn‐Wasil (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin), Aneta Wójciszyn-Wasil (0000-0003-2848-3051, Department of Visual Communication and New Media Institute of Journalism and Management, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Lublin Poland), Joanna Sosnowska (0000-0003-2622-0645, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin), Olga Białek‐Szwed (John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin), Olga Białek-Szwed (0000-0001-5702-4458, Department of Media Culture Institute of Journalism and Management, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Lublin Poland)
Year2026
Volume64
Issue2
Publication date2026-03-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Migration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7985 • E-ISSN: 1468-2435
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/imig.70148
OpenAlexW7138910468
LanguageEN
References cited37

The article critically revisits Berry's acculturation framework through the lens of ‘digital anchoring’ in the Facebook discourse of Polish migrants in Scotland. Drawing on 852 anonymised posts from four large Facebook groups (January–June 2025), we combine qualitative thematic coding with quantitative lexical analysis to explore how migrants construct psychosocial footholds—symbolic, relational, cultural, moral and functional—within digitally mediated spaces. While Berry's typologies (integration, separation, assimilation and marginalisation) offer a starting point, they inadequately capture the fluidity, hybridity and domain‐specific nature of adaptation revealed in online interactions. The concept of anchoring (Grzymała‐Kazłowska 2015) is extended here to account for digital performativity, affective expression and platform‐mediated visibility. Findings show that political debates act as symbolic anchors through ideological confrontation; solidarity exchanges and care requests serve as relational anchors; heritage preservation fosters intergenerational anchors; charity initiatives enable moral anchoring; and pragmatic engagement with Scottish institutions reflects hybrid functional anchoring. Adaptation emerges as selective and uneven—strong in relational and practical domains, limited in symbolic integration with the host society. Facebook functions not only as a site for discussing belonging but as an environment where it is actively produced, negotiated and contested. We propose ‘digital anchoring’ as a framework for understanding migrant adaptation in transnational, platform‐mediated contexts

Acculturation · Construct (python library · Discourse analysis · Framing (construction · Hybridity · Ideology · Politics · Solidarity · Thematic analysis · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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