Journal Articles and Academic Publications

Introduction: Migrant Experiences of Emotional and Material (In)Security: Post-Socialist Perspectives

Central and Eastern European Migration Review Special Issue: Migrant Experiences of Emotional and Material (In)Security: Post-Socialist Perspectives Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018

Rebecca Kay, Moya Flynn

(2018)

This special issue, edited and introduced by SSAMIS researchers Prof Rebecca Kay and Dr Moya Flynn, seeks to address a range of questions relating to migrant experiences of (in)security in the context of post-socialism. These questions include; How do migrants negotiate risk and manage both the material and emotional challenges and opportunities which moving to a new place brings?; What is the everyday relationship between security and insecurity in lived experiences of migration?; What can critical perspectives on post-socialism teach us about the practices, relationships and experiences which migrants from Central and East European countries mobilise in seeking to make themselves and their families more secure?; Can migration itself be seen as a ‘social security practice’ entailing both material and emotional dimensions and, if so, with which implications for migrants as individuals, families and identity-based groups?

PDF: CEEMR Special Issue

Weblink: http://ceemr.uw.edu.pl/issues/vol-7-no-1-2018

(In)Security, Family and Settlement: Migration Decisions Amongst Central and East European Families in Scotland

Central and Eastern European Migration Review Special Issue: Migrant Experiences of Emotional and Material (In)Security: Post-Socialist Perspectives Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018

Rebecca Kay, Paulina Trevena

(2018)

Drawing on extensive qualitative research into experiences of migration and settlement among Central and East European (CEE) migrants living in Scotland, this article examines the role of intersecting emotional and material (in)securities in migrant families’ decision-making regarding and experiences of longer-term settlement. The article queries fixed or given understandings of either ‘family’ or ‘security’ and explores the complex and sometimes contradictory relationship between them. Through a critical analysis of the relationship between family and (in)security the article offers nuanced insight into the ways in which family processes of reunion, separation and (re)formation link to decisions regarding migration and settlement, and provides new ways of understanding the open-endedness of decision-making processes relating to migration and settlement.

PDF: (In)Security, Family and Settlement

Weblink: http://ceemr.uw.edu.pl/articles/insecurity-family-and-settlement-migration-decisions-amongst-central-and-east-european

Migrants' Experiences of Material and Emotional Security in Rural Scotland: Implications for Longer-Term Settlement

Journal of Rural Studies, Volume 52, May 2017, Pages 56–65

Moya Flynn, Rebecca Kay 

(2017)

Drawing on qualitative research with Central and East European (CEE) migrants living and working in rural areas of Scotland, this article explores what it is that facilitates a desire to stay longer term and how this relates to theorisations of social security and migrant-led understandings of normality. The article makes three original contributions: (i) new empirical insight into the relationship between material and emotional aspects of migration and settlement in Scottish rural contexts; (ii) greater understanding of rural migrants' diverse lived experiences; (iii) attention to the changing nature of migration to rural contexts through a focus on longer-term settlement rather than seasonal or circular migration.

PDF: Migrants' experiences of material and emotional security

Weblink: https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0743016716302054