Civic engagement of Polish women in Germany and ongoing feminisation of contemporary migration processes

Abstract

Civic, cultural and political engagement of women is an intrinsically interesting issue in the context of Polish migration processes. The Poles constitute the second largest group of immigrants in Germany, after the Turks. Despite this fact, they are still considered the so-called invisible minority, characterised by generally low social and civic engagement which is mainly due to the history of migration to Germany before 1989. However, it has been gradually changing in recent years and nowadays different behaviour patterns can be observed. This is particularly visible among the women who are more socially, culturally and politically active than the men. Although it cannot be regarded as a general trend, it may be considered a significant precedent indicating some key changes in Polish migration to Germany. What is more, the level of socio-political engagement depends on the host city itself, as well as on numerous socio-cultural and economic issues. In order to grasp the variability of behaviour patterns and approaches of the Polish women in Germany, a series of in-depth interviews was carried out in two German cities: Berlin and Hamburg. The study allowed to assess the level of participation in both cities and revealed some reasons behind the diversity of behaviour patterns observed in the selected cities.