Nordic Ties and British Lives? Migrant Capital and the Case of Nordic Migrants Living in London

Saara Koikkalainen

doi:10.17645/si.v7i4.2333

Abstract

As a hub of finance, art, design and science, the city of London has long attracted migrants interested in study and career opportunities or simply excited about living in an open, global city. Over the last few decades, it has also been a key migration destination for Europeans originating from the Nordic countries. Based on survey data gathered through an online questionnaire, this article focuses on Nordic migrants currently living in London. Since the June 2016 referendum, the Brexit process has forced these voluntary and rather privileged migrants to question their inclusion in British society. This article discusses the role of migrant capital, i.e., the skills and resources created as a result of migration, at a time of uncertainty brought on by Brexit. It examines how these migrants see their position within the social hierarchy of the city and its job market, as well as within the local and transnational networks they maintain to their countries of origin. Their Nordic background is valuable thanks to the cultural capital embodied in their habitus as well as the social capital available via the Nordic networks in UK and transnationally.

Highlights

London has long been Europe’s main global city and the driver of British economic growth with a steady demand for migrant labour at all skill levels (e.g., Favell, 2008; Talani, 2018)
This article discusses the role of migrant capital, i.e., the skills and resources created as a result of migration, in the lives of Nordic migrants living in London under the uncertainty caused by the Brexit referendum of 2016
The natural experiment currently underway in Europe in the form of Brexit is an excellent case of when the macro level and the micro level should not be studied separately, but rather as interlinked processes unfolding in rich and unpredictable ways

Summary

Introduction

London has long been Europe’s main global city and the driver of British economic growth with a steady demand for migrant labour at all skill levels (e.g., Favell, 2008; Talani, 2018). In the last few years, the UK has been the destination of more than 600,000 migrants each year, while the numbers of people emigrating from the country have remained at around 350,000 per year. This has signified a net immigration rate of 200,000 to 300,000 migrants per year. EU long-term immigration figures have fallen since 2016, and in 2018 the number of new arrivals was at its lowest since 2013 (Office for National Statistics, 2019b). In light of the national statistics of each of the Nordic countries, the popularity of the UK as a migration destination has remained quite steady for Nordic migrants. In 2018, for example, more than 6,000 Nordic citizens migrated to the UK (Figure 1)

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