Abstract
This paper examines practices and strategies of consumption among Polish migrants in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Bridging theoretical perspectives on postmodernism, transnationalism and consumer society, the author discusses extent to which consumerism among Polish migrants can be seen as their way of integration with the local community in Northern Ireland. Focusing on conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption, this article explores the reasons why migrants take on the local consumption practices. Furthermore it examines migrants’ attempts to increase their social status, and display wealth through their engagement in consumer culture. Next, differences in Polish and local consumption patterns are teased out. Following this, the author links consumerism among Polish migrants to their embeddedness in local, transnational and global spheres. This research adopts 30 in-depth interviews.
Highlights
The aim of this article is to examine and explore consumption strategies and practices among Polish migrants in Belfast, Northern Ireland as a way of expressing one’s self
This paper will seek to explore how consumption and identity intersect to construct and maintain people’s conceptions of self. It will examine migrants’ strategies to participate in local consumer society, showing both their embeddedness both in local consumer culture in Northern Ireland and cultural values they brought from their home country
The interviews evolved around a loosely structured set of themes which focused on the following areas: people’s migration trajectories, their consumption patterns in Poland and Belfast, the changes they noticed in their consumption, and how they perceive the local consumption culture in relation to that of Polish migrants
Summary
The aim of this article is to examine and explore consumption strategies and practices among Polish migrants in Belfast, Northern Ireland as a way of expressing one’s self. This paper will seek to explore how consumption and identity intersect to construct and maintain people’s conceptions of self It will examine migrants’ strategies to participate in local consumer society, showing both their embeddedness both in local consumer culture in Northern Ireland and cultural values they brought from their home country. Poland has experienced a rise of consumer society in the recent years, this paper will focus on migrants’ subjectivities and the way they perceive changes in themselves as a result of migration It will draw on the findings of 30 in-depth interviews I conducted with Polish migrants in Belfast in 2018. The paper will evaluate theoretical contributions of the postmodern paradigm into debates around material reality, consumerism, and identity It will review comparative studies on migrant consumption practices more broadly, and literature on Polish migrant consumer cultures . Identity-making often involves narrative and story-telling; it is seen as a reflexive project (Giddens 1991)
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