Dr. Anna Xymena Wieczorek
Dissertation
Patterns of (Im)Mobility: Revisiting Migration through Biographical Experiences in Canada and Germany
(Supervisors: Martin Endreß, Trier / Barbara Thériault, Montréal)
My thesis deals with the duality between migration and mobility and propose a way to overcome it by investigating phenomena of migration through the “mobilities perspective.” In so doing, I examine the (im)mobility experiences of young adults of Polish heritage in Germany and Canada based on 47 autobiographical-narrative interviews. I asked under which circumstances (im)mobility emerges in migratory and transnational contexts, what biographical constellations are at play for the development, and how these (im)mobility experiences can be characterized. Analyzing individual trajectories, I have constructed an analytical typology of three patterns of (im)mobility: immobility, transmobility, and cosmobility. These patterns show different social configurations of (im)mobility experiences after initial migration. In-depth examinations of selected biographies reveal that the development, maintenance or shifting of each pattern in the life courses of individuals stands and falls with the constellation of specific biographical dimensions like language(s), belonging to the heritage- and destination culture, as well as family structures and social networks. The patterns of (im)mobility not only illustrate the diversity of geographical movements and their social implications and how they become meaningful experiences in a globalized world that seems to be increasingly “on the move,” but they also develop a new reading of the theories in the field of migration studies, such as the “classical” approaches of assimilation, integration, multiculturalism, as well as “new” approaches of transnationalism, diaspora, and cosmopolitanism.
The dissertation is published by transcript under the title: Migration and (Im)Mobility. Biographical Experiences of Polish Migrants in Germany and Canada. For more information, see: https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-4251-3/migration-and-im-mobility/?number=978-3-8376-4251-3
(Supervisors: Martin Endreß, Trier / Barbara Thériault, Montréal)
My thesis deals with the duality between migration and mobility and propose a way to overcome it by investigating phenomena of migration through the “mobilities perspective.” In so doing, I examine the (im)mobility experiences of young adults of Polish heritage in Germany and Canada based on 47 autobiographical-narrative interviews. I asked under which circumstances (im)mobility emerges in migratory and transnational contexts, what biographical constellations are at play for the development, and how these (im)mobility experiences can be characterized. Analyzing individual trajectories, I have constructed an analytical typology of three patterns of (im)mobility: immobility, transmobility, and cosmobility. These patterns show different social configurations of (im)mobility experiences after initial migration. In-depth examinations of selected biographies reveal that the development, maintenance or shifting of each pattern in the life courses of individuals stands and falls with the constellation of specific biographical dimensions like language(s), belonging to the heritage- and destination culture, as well as family structures and social networks. The patterns of (im)mobility not only illustrate the diversity of geographical movements and their social implications and how they become meaningful experiences in a globalized world that seems to be increasingly “on the move,” but they also develop a new reading of the theories in the field of migration studies, such as the “classical” approaches of assimilation, integration, multiculturalism, as well as “new” approaches of transnationalism, diaspora, and cosmopolitanism.
The dissertation is published by transcript under the title: Migration and (Im)Mobility. Biographical Experiences of Polish Migrants in Germany and Canada. For more information, see: https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-4251-3/migration-and-im-mobility/?number=978-3-8376-4251-3
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